Ashkyla
by SmileyFacePerson
Summary: A princess, unsatisfied with her Royal world, suddenly finds herself without hope for the future, and has to work for the first time to get her life back with the notsohelpful aid of her adorable kitten Kari. Sorry I haven't updated in so long!
1. Chapter 1

Princess Ashkyla stood at her window staring through the early dawn light. She was watching Kady, the First Chef's daughter, as she rushed about arranging the food carts into an orderly delivery line across the side bridge. A smile touched her watcher's lips as Kady discreetly pocketed an apple. It was funny to think all of it would all become a feast in a matter of hours. She followed the line of carts back to the outer gate with her eyes, wishing the gate was just a few feet lower so she could see the city from her window. To her, the city was a veiled mystery as were the people inside it. She had seen some of it before, but her view had been blocked by the guards riding on horses between them and royal etiquette keeping her from doing anything more than smiling and waving. The princess frowned at the wall as if she could bore a hole through it with her eyes before looking back down at the closer happenings beneath her window.

Kady had walked out of sight behind a cart, and the light from the rising sun finished lighting the sky. You could never properly watch the sunrise from within those walls. Ashkyla sighed, forlorn, turning around slowly so no one would know that they had been watched… and noticed the notebook on the small desk next to her bed at the same time as the door shut quietly. Ashkyla smiled briefly and picked it up. It was covered in purple cloth, and as she opened it a small, simple note fell out.

The princess's smile widened reading the quick, neat handwriting of her maid, wishing her a happy birthday. The journal wasn't fancy, but a fancy journal was impossible to write in. She took out her ink and quill, opened the blank book, and began to write. She wrote for a long while, barely pausing to refill her quill or carefully let a page dry before turning it. When she was finished, she put down the feather, stretched out her hand, and let a look of great relief break through her mask for a moment before she stood up.

She looked out her window again. By now the sun was completely up, and Kady had gone back inside, leaving the remaining few carts to slowly trundle in and out of the kitchen. Ashkyla turned to once again see her maid, Para, open the door, but this time holding a morning gown.

"Do you always come in when my back is turned?" Ashkyla greeted her elderly maid happily, a joke in her voice. Para had been her maid since she was born and had always been her silent supporter.

"Happy Birthday my lady! Sixteen already? I hope you liked your present, but there are many more waiting for you downstairs. We'd better get you dressed if you are to start this busy day. The king of Nirdan is here already, arrived last night. What wonderful weather for such a joyous day. Crown Princess and the Royal Ring already, I can't believe it, I simply can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday you were…" And so on, Para barely stopping for breath.

Her short stature and kind face made her seem small and meek at first glance, but underneath she was full of energy and a loud character, always bustling around and the first to welcome a new member of the castle staff. She was a chatter box, content to fill other's silence with her own words until they ran out, which often took awhile. More often than not her voice could be heard ringing through the halls of the castle as she gossiped merrily with the laundry maids or laughed at the always tardy message boy's latest excuse.

Ashkyla smiled and began to remove her nightdress as Para slipped the elegant summer gown over her head. She sat and Para brushed out her hair, slipping on a marbled lapis lazuli clip, but left it down otherwise, saving the ornate hair styles for the ball later. And Ashkyla left the room, walking down the hall with careful steps, her grin suddenly turning into a slight, happy-go-lucky expression as she prepared to meet the rest of the household.


	2. Kari

I watched her go, Para leaving and shutting the door softly behind her, most likely heading for the kitchens, a habit evidenced by her increasingly round body. I didn't hear a click, so I knew it could easily be pawed open. I considered trying to open the notebook to see what she had written, but although I may be intelligent, I haven't completely grasped the meanings of those little squiggly lines. Who am I? Why, the cat of course. Or rather, the kitten. I am Ashkyla's kitten, 9 months old. On her 15th birthday she was promised the most beautiful kitten from my litter by the Duke of Loring, who breeds cats. I was chosen at 3 months and given as a half birthday present to my mistress.

That is my simple history. I have learned much in my six months of palace life. I am the Princess's confidante. She tells me things she would never tell anyone else, even Para. At night I'll curl up on her bed and she'll whisper to me about what she said that day and what she really wanted to say, tell me all the terrible gossip about people, and who was truly terrible but never talked about. During the day I wait until she is gone, then go downstairs to the kitchens to chase mice or go into the garden and run around, batting at the flowers. Things my princess would love to do, but can't. Some times I join her in what ever she's doing – usually either walking around the palace gardens, smiling for a group of commoners or having lessons in music and dance. Most often I find Ashkyla with her tutor. I learned early not to jump on the table, because that tends to upset the ink which makes her tutor angry and causes big black blotches to appear on my perfect fur, so I mainly stay under her chair.

What do I look like? I have velvety white fur on my head, with matching petite paws, and much of my back. One of my ears is iridescently orange, as well as many spots and stripes wherever I'm not brilliantly white along my back and tail. This is how I was presented to the Princess and the only way I am ever described. Everyone seems only to care about looks and outward things, instead of personality and the little things everyone does every day that really make the difference. Nobles. I'm forever glad _I'm_ not the princess.

Then again, my fur _is _beautiful, and it has every right to be remembered for its fantastic shininess. But I supposed it would bother me if Ashkyla never noticed my attentiveness, or my cleverness, or my all around wonderfulness. Well, she's never actually mentioned my all-around-wonderfulness, but I'm sure she meant to.

I jumped off the bed and out of the cozy nest I'd made which would surely be gone when I came back. Maids are pesky little things. I ran lightly to the door, batted it open, and left the room. Well, obviously I left the room, what else would I have done with the open door? The hall outside is always uninviting. It is long and engraved, mostly marble and gold, cold things to walk on. The bedrooms had carpets, but very few other places did. The hall is also long, although the King and Queen's quarters are at the very end and Ashkyla's room is in the middle, leaving only half the hall between me and the stairs.

Stairs are tricky. The best way is to walk along the slanted bit on the side connected to the stair rail, but it's so easy to slide, and falling down stairs is not fun. Of course, we cats always land on our feet, being very graceful, but I almost pulled a claw out once.

Once I got to the bottom, fully clawed, I traversed down another, much larger, hallway until I reached a door. It wasn't just any door. It had been carved out of the Tall Woods of Kimarine Forest, one of the five enchanted forests. The door is covered with swirls and mysterious patterns and symbols which may just be for decoration, but which some say are ancient spells. Normally the doors are closed, as the Hall is only used when there are guests. I really do know too many random facts.

Today, however, they were wide open, a stream of people pouring in from down the other hall which led toward the outside door. I didn't feel like going outside today; although it would be easy, all those people would most likely be taking up all the space with their noise and smell. So instead I followed the line to its end: My princess.

Well, not specifically her. It stopped approximately ten feet in front of her, where she sat in the smallest of the three thrones on the dais, to the left of her father who was in the largest throne, who was next to her mother. One by one, the visitors came up, gave their name to a scribe, and gave Ashkyla a gift or wished her birthday sentiments. She smiled at each one, promising to open the gift as soon as she had time or returning pleasantries.

She had her mask on, the smiling, welcoming one she'd most likely be wearing all day. I jumped lightly past the guards, who glared at me disapprovingly, but didn't dare stop me. I am the princess's cat, after all. I paraded up to her and curled up beside her chair. I have a lot of practice putting up a good show, just like a princess. She had learned how to be a lady at the age most children were still learning that fancy china and cat tails are not toys, and now I was learning from her. Being a princess wasn't that easy. She continued talking to the man in front of her, but I knew she had noticed me. I looked out at the line of people, all excited to meet her, and felt sorry for the girl beneath the gracious royal, knowing the line extended far outside. And although she had only begun a few minutes ago, she was most likely already tired of the whole affair.

The Royal Encyclopedia of Canderon, Volume K

Kimarine Forest is the last known location of Enchanted trees. Although no one has seen one in over a hundred years, according to ancient legend there is an immortal grove in the very center of the forest. It is said that the spot is one of the last sources of Great Magic. The other four enchanted forests are located outside of the kingdom of Canderon. According to ancient myths, they have protected the portals to the Fairy World since the birth of time, and were considered places of great mystique. As magic has become rare, these areas have become lost in legend and fables…


	3. Diary

_July, 16th- 7:00 am, my 16th birthday._

I am the Crown Princess Ashkyla Treleverte, daughter of His Majesty King Phillip IV and Her Highness Queen Taralia, heir to the throne of the kingdom Canderon. But that is in no way all there is to me. To most, that simple (well, not so simple) statement means so many things about me. I must be beautiful, kind, happy, welcoming, and most every positive female adjective. I must learn the history of our country, how to read, and simple math, but besides reading never seem in any way scholarly. Everyone must love me, and I must love everyone. I should be simple-mindedly obedient and always act with perfect politeness and discipline.

So everything anyone ever sees of me, publicly, is this. This image. This mask I've had to make for myself. I wear expensive dresses and jewelry, style my hair, am kind to everyone, never express real opinions, act like everything is something to be excited over… here I go, listing again. Despite having to be simple-minded, I also have to consider political standpoints on everything and make sure never to offend anyone, even though I am almost always higher than them socially.

So no one really knows the real me, the me who daydreams about adventures far away, starting as a poor mill girl and eventually becoming the country's heroine. The me who stares out the window and wonders about a real life. Even Para, my maid, knows barely anything of me. The only real source you could get anything from is Kari, my kitten, to whom I tell everything. Sometimes I wonder if all the other nobles are just like me underneath, wonder if we're all just playing a game, trying to please each other when all any of us would like is to stop.

I hate my life sometimes, being princess. Perhaps its human nature to want what you don't have and be unsatisfied with all the good things around you, but if it is, it's well-founded. I have no real friends, as the only people on a high enough social standard to befriend me are noble's children who can be just as stuck-up or empty headed as they are expected to be. I know there are people out there who would do anything to be me, and I would do anything to be them. There are also people out there who would kill me on sight, and so many people I don't know who know me that I can't possibly have them all think well about me, or subdue various rumors.

I almost never leave the castle, but when I do it's glorious. We sometimes go for Royal Picnics in the fields outside the city, and although guards and nobles pretty much block out the countryside I would otherwise be soaking in, they are still better than sitting, completely lonely, in my boring rooms with only a limited view of the side courtyards. The gardens are my other refuge, but it is often hard to have enough time alone to manage to be there. There are few places a Princess is allowed to be alone. Their rooms, private gardens, and the library. No where else really, unless something rather strange happens.

But today is my birthday, one of the most annoying days of the year. I have barely any free time, especially today, my crown birthday when I officially become crown princess. Oh joy. Everyone is so happy for me, but it is really just the day that forever seals my fate, sews me into this life that I so dislike. Today I will greet all the commoners who wish to see me, meaning I have to keep up my mask all day, smiling and happy to see everyone, fairly overwhelmed by so many 'wonderful' gifts and wishes of happiness. Once again, oh joy.

Now that I have relieved myself of my jubilance, I must dress in my uncomfortable but beautiful dress and go downstairs to sit in my uncomfortable but ornate chair and greet the uncomfortable but excited populace. Oh joy.

_July 16th -5:15 pm, still my 16th birthday_

I am so bored. All day, on my birthday, I have been bored out of my mind by the traditional Crown Birthday procedures. First the greetings of the citizens come to wish me well. That took well over three hours. Then I had to more personally greet all of the nobles who came to see me, and tolerate their extensively pointing out the merits of their various expensive gifts, and finally the King of Nirdan gave me fabrics made from some sort of foreign _worm_. He purchased it from a merchant who had traveled far with his wares, and it is supposedly very rare. It is called silk, or some such, and is very soft, but it seems even more impractical than what I usually wear.

After everyone had given me their gifts, my parents presented me with the Royal Ring, and my gratitude from that resulted mainly in the fact that I didn't have to go through a ceremony to get it. The Royal Ring proves that I am the crown-princess and will someday be Queen. That at least means that when I get married, I can stay here, although that also means I don't get to see more of the world. I'm supposed to wear it always, as a symbol to my people. When I do become Queen it will be removed and replaced with the Royal Crown, which symbolizes my new, larger responsibilities or something. I just know that I will soon begin extensive studying on that topic so that when I have to give an acceptance of the Crown speech I will have some semblance of what I'm saying.

But, at least I'm allowed to take off the crown, because I've heard that it can sometimes be hard to remove the ring after it's been on too long. Two of the dukes were talking about it when they thought no one was listening, which I really shouldn't have been doing, except no one would have been able to pay attention to Lord Merle explaining in great detail how hard it was to ascertain his mirror "_Made of the best glass in the Kingdom and placed in the most beautiful wooden frame, inlaid with rubies and sapphires, etc…"_. As if anything I owned wasn't 'beautiful' and 'jewel encrusted'. And how are _mirrors_, of which I own at least 20, supposed to elevate anyone in the eyes of the Crown? Which doesn't really happen much anyway, as my father tries to avoid favoring anyone.

And just imagine that torture 37 times in a row (the number of people who had come with presents that they had to prattle on about, including a large statue depicting a stream. It was rather pointless in my opinion, but it will be placed somewhere in the gardens so that people can wonder at our Royal Taste. Hopefully it will be behind a bush.) Meanwhile one of the dukes suggested that most royals simply take the ring off at night. Which is what I was planning to do, but I can hardly prove them right, can I now? The other duke began telling him an amusing tale about one of the larger crown princes, most of which I missed because Lord Merle had finally taken out his grand mirror, and I had to make a great show of being surprised at how well it gasp reflected me, and how I would have to find the perfect place for it (in some storage closet along with the others).

After the gift giving, we had lunch and then entertainment, in which people competed for a prize of 10,000 gold coins, and a number of the nobles judged them. It was by far the best part of the day, after which the whole thing adjourned until dinner, at 5:30. I thought I would have the next two hours to sit up in my room and rest, but two other noble girls my age whisked me off for a walk in the gardens to, essentially, giggle in high short blasts about the ball and congratulate me on my birthday for an hour. I barely had time to get up to my room and change into an evening dress and re-do my hair. I have to go back now, but I'm certainly not looking forward to it.


	4. Kari 2

Kari

I sat under Ashkyla's chair which was to the right of her father, the place of honor, in honor of her birthday. On her other side was her mother and on the other side of her father was the King of Nirdan. Ashkyla's feet were clenching and unclenching as she drew them out of her slippers, showing her agitation to me at least, although I was positive no one at the table above noticed anything. I couldn't see what was going on, as I was under a chair, but I could see the two kings' knees moving together as if they were turning toward each other. Was that what was bothering my princess? Was it something they were talking about?

There wasn't much two kings would be talking about over dinner. Wars, peace, treaties, hunting, food? Ashkyla truly didn't like war, something expected of her, but unless they were talking about it in great detail, she wouldn't be this annoyed. She disliked hunting too, but whenever anyone began to talk about it she turned her attention elsewhere, a skill she used with a number of topics. Why, then, would this be bothering her?

I crept slowly from her chair towards theirs. I crouched just under the table, where they couldn't see me but I could hear them, and listened for their voices. It was very noisy in the hall, and they were trying to keep their voices down, but I managed to catch snatches of their conversation, as cats have hearing far superior to human's, otherwise Ashkyla would hear them too. Or perhaps she did. I immediately picked up that is was about her. 'Ashkyla is getting older…it is a good time…put off too long… good match.'

Match? The last bit caught my attention as it was said with a slight chuckle. Match? Perhaps the other king bred dogs, and along with the smooth cloth he meant to pair her up with a puppy. They were going to replace me! King Phillip had never liked me much, claiming I was a nuisance, always tripping people up, that I should be locked in the rooms upstairs. I listened again, trying to catch a wisp of sound, but they were just agreeing to discuss it further after dinner, before the ball.

Theirs knees turned forward again and I scampered back to Ashkyla, in time to hear her ask her mother if she could withdraw early in order to get ready for the ball, as she wished to have extra time on her hair. Her mother agreed, the bit about the hair most likely convincing her. Queen Taralia is forever worrying about her hair, wondering if its graying or drying out, buying ornate hats for days when she feels she has bed hair, and fairly piling it around her head in styles designed to show it off on days when she thinks it looks shiny. As Ashkyla got up and graciously excused herself to the rest of the table, I walked under her dress, hidden as she left the hall, something I had done often and was quite good at. Once she got to the stairs, away from the eyes of the guests, she picked me up and hurried upstairs, pulling her skirt up to allow her legs more movement.

Once we reached her room, she closed the door firmly behind her and began to pace, talking to me of her most recent worries, animatedly throwing her arms about.

"Oh Kari, my father means to marry me off. The way they were talking together and looking at me. As if I didn't notice! I'm not sure if it's to that king or to a son of his, but whoever it is this is terrible. I won't meet him most likely till my eighteenth birthday, and they could be simply dreadful. I've heard of girls told their betrothed is handsome and wonderful for years and when they finally meet them they are old and ugly and mean. Then they have to spend their whole lives with a leftover fantasy that was real for years with a horrible man as a reality. It would be an awful life!" Ashkyla looked seriously scared, practically walking in circles and waving her arms around. "I have to know what's going on. They'll probably be going to the gaming room. I… I'll put on that page's uniform and creep over to them, and try and listen in. I hope they don't have guards everywhere, but I need to know. And if I find out… well, then I can try and do something about it. Anything. Well… actually, the man I would marry would be king and thus have a rather important position, so I suppose he couldn't be too old. Still…"

While she had been planning, she had spun toward her closet and was digging through the heavy, ornate dresses towards the back, emerging finally with a bundle of cloth in her arms.

"I knew this would come in handy one day. I hope it fits." She tugged off her evening dress and under-gown (a garment which always confused me, although it's hardly the only piece of clothing which does) and pulled the blue and white tunic over her head then pulled up the leggings. She wound her long dark hair up into a sort of bun and held it up with one hand while groping in her closet for the large floppy hat that went with the uniform, which she pulled over her head.

She still looked like herself, only less dressed up and formal. And she was wearing boy's clothes, but she didn't look like a boy, even though the tunic was too large and didn't show her chest. She looked in the mirror, made a face, and pulled down her hat farther. Still unsatisfied, she took some water from the cup by her bed and rinsed off the colors she put on in the morning. Then she took some black coloring and made her eyebrows thicker and lightly shaded her upper lip. Now she looked strange, definitely not Ashkyla and just barely a boy. It would do if someone only glanced at her, but not if they looked too long too close.

She shrugged at her odd image and turned to me. "Do I look ok? I know my disguise wouldn't work forever, but it might just last for tonight. I hope no one looks at my feet. I don't have any shoes that would work. I'll go downstairs in a little while, I'm sure dinner will be over soon. I have an hour until the ball, and I'm sure my father and King Gandon will be in the gaming room by the time I get downstairs. But you have to stay here Kari. If they see you, it will be obvious who I am."

Stay here? This was much more important than lessons which I was allowed to come to, and yet I wasn't allowed to come _now_? I would simply have to follow at a distance without being seen. It was fairly easy. I watched Ashkyla leave, then close the door firmly behind her. Wait! I can't open a door that's completely closed; I won't be able to follow her. She did that on purpose. I really aught to sulk.

I jumped off the bed where I had sat through the whole thing and ran to the door, pawing at it to see if maybe it was just a little open. It wasn't. I began to pace back and forth next to the door, trying to think of other routes out. Then, from the hallway, I heard footsteps. It was Para! She opened the door and poked her head in.

"My lady? Are you here? Do you need help dressing? Hello?" As she opened the door fully, confused, I zipped out between her legs and almost flew down the stairs before stopping myself.


	5. Kady

- Kady -

I am tired. I've been up all day, and have had a generally busy week. Today was (well, I shouldn't say was, because it is only 8:00) the princess's birthday. Her sixteenth birthday. Her Royal birthday. Meaning nearly every Noble house in the Kingdom was represented. Meaning there was a lot of food involved. Meaning we had to start organizing it weeks ahead. And as the daughter of the First Chef, I find myself always in the Kitchens, helping out anyone who needs it, and cooking things myself. But my job is finally done (at least until tomorrow morning when we'll have to serve another large breakfast for Nobles staying over night). Although there is still the ball, no more food has to be made and I don't have to wait on anyone, although I feel really sorry for anyone who does.

My father was practically forced out of the kitchen by the Second Chef, Jack. Although it was much earlier that we usually leave, my father was so exhausted he nearly filled the salt container with sugar. Jack told me to follow him, so he didn't simply pass out in a hallway. I was glad to leave, though. The kitchen was a mess, despite countless scullery maids rushing around and attempting to clean it, and the oven fires had been roaring throughout the sweltering summer day. It was blisteringly hot in there, even now, at night. If my father hadn't fainted from exhaustion, he would have collapsed from the heat.

Still, Jack had fairly pushed him out of the kitchen, ignoring his complaints. I opened the door to leave the kitchen a few moments later, and found my father in the hallway leaning against the wall, letting down his guard now that he thought no one was around. I closed the kitchen doors for a few moments until I guessed he had recovered, and then came out to see him beginning to trudge down the hall. When he saw me he straightened up, and smiled.

"Hello dear. I must say, I'm glad it's all over." I reached him, and he squeezed my hands. "But I do feel guilty about leaving everyone else to finish. I am, after all, the First Chef. I really should be there."

"Father, you hardly left of your own…" I trailed off as I heard voices down the hall.

They were loud and male, and from the look of the spear butt leaning into the hallway, they were guards. Although soldiers weren't horribly unusual in a palace, there generally weren't any down this corridor. It was a truly useless place to have guards, unless they were trying to keep something safe in the Servant's Quarters. The passage lead to the kitchens one way, and the other just a complex of paths through the servant's quarters ending in a small, shadowy door letting out near the Noble's rooms.

But it wasn't just the rarity of guards that confused me, but what they were talking about. I caught 'The King's orders', which would mean that the King was doing something. Which didn't make sense because he was an extremely peaceful king, who didn't generally go about doing things with guards, which could only mean something _was _going on in the servant's quarters. I wanted to hear this then. I stopped and shushed my father, beginning to inch along the wall toward their voices.

"He said to wait here for the signal, then to block off the servants from escaping. His Highness doesn't want them to ruin anything. We should follow his orders." As we neared the corner, I could see four men standing in a circle.

The man talking sounded frazzled, as if this wasn't the first time he had said this. And there went 'his orders' again. But what would we ruin by…escaping? And from what? As far as I knew, we weren't prisoners; I had left the castle walls many times. The King wasn't a believer in using punishment to keep the servants in line, and as far as I knew no one in the palace had broken any laws recently… well not anything major. This made no sense.

"But what does he think _servants_ can do against armed guards? Maybe they'll dust us." The guard across from the first one was talking now, and the guard next to him seemed to think this was funny. "I really don't see why we have to stand here without any part of the action and just _wait_. I'm _bored_. We're part of the Elite Guard, why are we sitting in a corridor waiting to stop _silver-polishers_." The man's voice took on a mocking tone.

"We were ordered to stay here. Servants can do more than you think. They have to keep the whole castle running. They could pose a problem if they wanted to." This comment was said with a sigh. Although I couldn't see much of the new speaker from my spot, I could see a little bit of honey brown hair peeking around the first man's head, and slightly appreciated his words.

"Stay out of this _Nathaniel_. You _would_ stand up for servants, you practically _are_ one. You wouldn't even be here if your uncle hadn't pulled some strings. You're still too inconsequential to decide what we are going to be doing anyway." The man who had laughed before said it in such a way that you could tell he was sneering.

"And you _do_ have the authority to do so, Johnson? I outrank you, and it isn't any of our business anyway, because it was the king who ordered us here, and here we will stay. It's not a question of the servants' threat to the plan; it's about making sure the plan is flawless, without even the most minor interruption. Our leaving would cause a minor interruption, something I won't stand for." The first man had a commanding edge to his voice, and his head moved to look squarely at the two men leaning against the opposite wall. "When the king gives the signal, we will make sure all the servants are here, and make sure they won't rebel. If they do, it's our job to make sure it is quelled. We may as yet see some action." At these words, I could see a slow smile begin to work its way across the second man's face. "And besides, the signal should come soon."

I mulled over the words in my head. The plan, the king's orders, the signal? What would we rebel against? What was the king planning… the king! There's another king, the king of Nirdan, visiting for the princess's birthday. He was up to something. That was why there were guards here. Something was happening, something that shouldn't be going on.

"Kady!" My father pulled me back from the corner, whispering urgently. "I don't know what's going on, but I _do_ know that something dangerous is going to happen and I don't want you in it. I believe that it has something to do with King Gandon, and I want you to leave the castle, and don't come back until it's all over. Do you understand?" He began motioning me back toward the kitchens, which opened to the courtyard on one side.

"But father, I can't leave you. And what will you do?" I knew from the look in my father's eyes that anything I said would go unheeded; he was stubborn even in this tired state.

"I will try to warn the king and anyone else I may see. I need to know that you are safe, that you have been warned." He began pushing me at the doors.

"But father-"

"I know you want to help, and you can do that by warning the kitchen staff."

"Father I won't-"

"You _will _just leave me. I can take care of myself." We were in the kitchen now, and Jack was glaring at us, opening his mouth to say something and was cut off by father.

"The King of Nirdan is planning something, something that will happen soon. I don't know exactly what it is, but…" He petered out, when we heard yells coming from the great hall, and the sound of heavy booted footsteps down the corridor. Father blanched. "But it's happening now. Go Kady!"

With that he pushed me toward the courtyard and spun away out of the kitchen. Everyone erupted in shouts, some struggling through the mess toward the hallway, others going the other way and trying to escape the castle. Jack grabbed me and hurried me along toward the night outside, telling me that he would watch out for my father. Three guards leapt up from the outside night, dressed in green and gold, trying to hold back the torrent of people trying to leave.

Panic infused me, and I managed to push past all of them and run toward the side drawbridge before I could think, following the last order that had entered my mind: go. I didn't know where I was going, I just went, and my mind finally caught up with me three streets outside the castle. I began to turn back, when I heard a shrill scream, all the way from the castle, and saw a figure running toward me through the night.

I turned again and fled. Was it one of the guards, coming after me to make sure I didn't ruin whatever plan it was they had? Or was it someone else who had escaped and was going the same place I was. Whoever it was, the figure's sudden appearance spurred me on and I began to run toward what I realized now was the wide meadow outside the city. I came here in the summers, to fly kites and have picnics, and when I had a day off I would come and climb up in the tree to read or daydream of far away places.

And here I found myself, this terrible night, climbing up the tree, and trying to hide myself among its branches.


	6. Chapter 6

Ashkyla, disguised as a page, knelt behind a suit of armor across the hall from the hunting room, watching and listening. The two kings sat across from each other, as if discussing a business deal. The room had animal heads and weapons mounted about the walls, exotic skins on the floor. Although she had never liked it much, there always seemed to be a fire crackling away in the hearth, and the scene seemed cozy and friendly.

There weren't any guards, although they generally followed the Royal family everywhere. It would have been rude with the other king there present. This also meant that there were less people to hide from, for which she was grateful, the first time she had been glad of the other King's presence.

"I've put off arranging a marriage for my Ashkyla too long, I really have." King Phillip broke the short silence. "Your sons are only a little older than she, something she would like. She's always been afraid of having to marry someone twice as old as she is, and so I'm sure one of the princes would be perfect. However, which one of them would she marry?" He was sitting comfortably in a couch with a good natured expression on his face.

"She will marry neither because she, like you will be dead long before her eighteenth birthday." Suddenly King Gandon rose and drew his sword, which had been hidden under his tunic. He snapped his fingers and soldiers dressed in green and gold seemed to melt out of the walls from behind curtains, statues, and pieces of furniture. "You see, I never meant to have your daughter enter our family, but for your country to enter my land. After I take your palace, so sadly unprotected after such a long interlude of peace, I will be ruler and though one of my sons will one day be the King here, you won't be his father-in-law."

Ashkyla gasped, and moved to run into the room, then seemed to think better of it, and began slowly backing away, as close to the wall as possible, with as an expression of first horror then deepest sadness, and finally hopelessness crossed her face.

"What? GUARDS!" King Phillip leapt up, but no one came.

"Do you think we are that stupid? Your guards were all served celebratory wine. It was poisoned." King Gandon laughed, a strangely evil sound.

King Phillip reached for one of the decoration swords from the wall, but the look in his eyes was far from battle-ready. "Then who were the men at the doors during dinner?" His voice quavered and the question seemed to be asking something else.

"My men in your men's uniforms. They will be moving to your wife's and daughter's rooms as soon as I give the signal, as soon as you are dead." With that, Gandon lunged at the other king, engaging him in battle.

It was obvious who would win. Phillip was barely fit, and hadn't practiced in years, and had only a blunt decoration sword he had most likely barely held before to protect him. King Gandon seemed skilled and his arm moved about easily from often practice with a sword fit to his hand. It was over quickly, a gouging sound, then a thud, and Gandon withdrew his sword from the dying body leaking blood onto the largest of the bear skin rugs.

"The kingdom is mine." Gandon's voice rang out of the room, followed by the sound of footsteps, soldiers were gathering around their leader. "You two, find the Queen, and you two the Princess. The rest of you give the signal."

Ashkyla's heart began to beat faster. She raced up the stairs, not caring who heard her now, too terrified to think. By the time she realized that her rooms where the worst place to go under the circumstances, she could already hear heavy booted feet climbing up the stairs behind her. She darted behind the door, waiting only the barest fraction of a moment for Kari, almost catching her cat's tail in her haste.

Para, very confused, turned to see her ward frantically scrambling with the door. "Your highness? What…"

"Para, father is dead. And they're going to kill me too." Panic made her voice high and squeaky as she locked the door and attempted to push a trunk in front of it.

Para had gone white and, without asking anything else, began looking about the room as if grasping for a plan. "You must hide." She grabbed the dress she had been planning to dress Ashkyla in.

Thinking quickly, almost as if she had been ready for this, she turned to Ashkyla. "There is a secret passage way to outside, to the garden, behind that tapestry. We will throw this dress into the inner moat below, as if you have jumped. I will tell you to run and you will yell that the only way is jump into the moat, and then you will go down the passage as fast as you can."

"But what about you?" Ashkyla had calmed down a little at least on the outside, her mask taking over.

"They aren't likely to kill me, but they will see which way you went if I follow." Para moved toward the tapestry and pulled it aside then tugged on it. A door slowly opened in the marble scraped open. "You must go, you must survive. I promise dear, I will see you again. Now go."

Ashkyla gaped for a moment, her mask coming apart at the seams from the sudden onslaught of emotion. Then down below they heard men shouting.

"Now men, now! Attack!" The footsteps came closer and closer, louder and louder.

Ashkyla grabbed her notebook, clinging to it, as the held the dress over the window, and screamed toward the door as if surprised.

"Run my lady, run!" Para shouted so the soldiers outside would hear.

"Where? The only exit is the window. The window! I will jump. Maybe I can swim…" With that, Ashkyla threw her dress and raced toward the tapestry.

Para dropped the wall hanging behind her, screaming 'no', and then moved toward the window as Ashkyla ran into the dark, downward sloping tunnel. When the tapestry dropped, most of the light was lost and Ashkyla wished she had brought a lamp. The silence and the dark seemed to press into her from all sides.

Ashkyla began to run, then slowed to a walk, breathing heavily, almost sobbing, and struggled to hold back the torrent of hopelessness inside of her. She looked ahead and saw the grayness brightening, just a little, as if there was light seeping through from far, far away. She wondered if the tunnel was longer than she had thought and suddenly realized that the gardens were on the other side of the castle from her rooms. Then there was a whoosh and she felt as if she was being pushed, then she was flying forward. It stopped as suddenly as it had started, except now the light was much brighter, and she could see where it came from – a bright dot far down the tunnel.

Magic? That was certainly the only explanation, but magic hadn't been seen for centuries. She shivered. How old was the palace then? And how old was this tunnel? Suddenly the light was right ahead, and the roof of the tunnel started to get lower. Ashkyla bent over, then stooped, and eventually had to crawl through the small opening. She emerged in a small area seemingly completely surrounded by tall bushes. There was a small crack right in front of her which Ashkyla slipped through, scratching herself on the branches. She looked around and realized she was on the edge of the garden and when she turned around she could barely make out where she had come from. She turned back to the garden and wondered what she should do, realizing that this was as far as her plan went.

It suddenly hit her that she was running from the life she had disliked so much, a life that she could now never go back to, toward a future that would be built as she got there instead of planned out by tradition and her father's councilors. Her parents were most likely either dead by now, or about to be, and Ashkyla was only escaping it temporarily as far as she could tell. She had to be self sufficient, one adjective a princess was never expected to be, one adjective she had never considered before.

She had almost fallen to misery when she felt warm fur on her ankle. Kari! Her heart lifted and she realized that despite everything counting against her, there was always the slim chance that she would survive and be able to make a new life for herself. She could be the heroine she had always dreamed about and safe her kingdom from the tyrant on the throne. It was a wistful dream though, and most likely wasn't about to come true, but now, more than any time in her life, there was that chance.

She pushed through a mind suddenly jumbled with thoughts let loose as her dreams and nightmares came true, as her world crumbled. _Just don't think about it… just don't think. _She locked upon the thought of the small side door, almost hidden in ivy that would be on the outer wall across from her. The same wall that was supposed to protect her was now keeping her inside this deadly scenario. She shook her head to rid it of that thought, and tried again to focus. Many times she had imagined escaping through that door into her fantasies, but had known there was no real future for her that way. Now it was her only future, her only hope, her only thought. She prayed it wasn't locked.

Ashkyla tried to slink through the shadows like she had seen Kari do, but even so, it was very lucky for her that no one was looking through the windows. As she neared the wall, she squinted through the twilight and began to fear she was mistaken as to where it was. The ivy covering the wall didn't seem to part, and although the door was covered in ivy, she had always been able to see it in the daytime. She reached the wall and began to walk along it, straining her eyes, trying to find a door.

Suddenly the night air was shattered by a scream, and sounds of chaos that had been ignored till now suddenly flooded in. Ashkyla looked up, and knew her mother was dead. At the same moment, she caught a glimpse of a bump in the ivy out of the corner of her eye. Her hysteria returned as she ran madly toward it, not caring if anyone saw her now. She pulled wildly on the door, ran through barely closing it behind her, was hardly aware of the cobblestones beneath her bare feet. Unconsciously she headed for the one place that she ever looked forward to approaching: the meadow behind the castle.

Ashkyla had always taken the long way, in a carriage, before, to better the royal family in the views of the public. Today she ran the route she had envisioned sadly in her mind as the route to happiness, directly back from the castle for about a fifth of a mile. However, Ashkyla had never before run very far, as it was terribly unprincess-like if there was no reason, and there barely ever was a reason. She slowed to a walk, panting, doggedly continuing onward. She didn't let herself think, could barely feel the silent tears streaming down her face.

She registered the feeling of grass under her feet and dully thought that they where getting cold. Suddenly she tripped, falling forward onto the ground, barely putting her arms out in time. She rolled over and fell onto something hard. A tree. The tree where she always sat during picnics, on a blanket, her back against the trunk, looking up into the leaves. The tree where her father had first, unofficially, proposed to her mother. The tree she always kept a leaf from after each picnic. The tree that was the basis of so many happy memories.

Ashkyla began to cry, to sob. In no way was this a dainty weep. All the feelings, all the thoughts, came flooding in, knocking down the tiny fence that had once been a rock wall between her mind and her emotion. Her parents were dead, her only family besides 2nd and 3rd cousins she hardly cared about. Para was most likely dead too, or demoted, or sent away. She had faked her own death, didn't really exist. She most likely would die anyway. Her country was taken over by another King and she couldn't even stand and watch, she had to run away. Even if she did run and manage to find food and shelter, there was nothing she could do. Her whole life had been spent in training to be a queen, unlike everyone else who had useful skills. She knew how to write and read, some math, and plenty of history, but not enough to become a teacher. She was fragile and weak, from a life of leisure and servants.

There were no advisors to tell her what to do, no power to change what bothered her with simply a plea to her father. The whole land was, or soon would be, in turmoil. For all of Ashkyla's secret indifference and free spirit, she couldn't survive without her royal title. Even the small bundle of fur that had just curled up in her lap was doing no good. Nothing could pierce through her grief. And for the next few minutes, nothing did.

Finally, exhausted, she cried herself to sleep; haunted by memories she would never come close to having again.


	7. Chapter 7

Ashkyla was so excited. It was Summer Festival, the first day of summer. This meant a picnic. Picnics were always fun, because it meant going through the city and then the meadow. It meant watching the summer dancers in the bright dresses leap around with ribbons, and it meant seeing everyone smiling in a real way. Not the fake way people did in the palace, but in a real way. The sun was shining, and even though she had to sit under a tree the whole time, it was wonderful not to have walls everywhere. Today she could run around and leap like the dancers after they had finished their traditional dances, when everyone was invited to dance with them. Even though she had to wear the gold circlet with the diamond on it, she did get to wear a light dress, un-encumbered by petticoats, lace, and velvet.

Ashkyla grinned out at the people outside the carriage window, and none of them could help but smile back. She wanted to wave, but her mother had told her not to because her arm would get tired and then some people would think she didn't like them when she didn't wave. Ashkyla asked if everyone would think she didn't like them if she didn't wave at all, but Mother said that she would wave to everyone instead and it would be okay.

Ashkyla looked forward and managed to smile even wider. Off in the distance was something green, and her tree. The blankets were already there and servants were holding food, ready to serve it to everyone. Ashkyla would have run out of the carriage if her mother hadn't been holding her hand, but she hurried over to the tree, just barely refraining from dragging her mother along like a normal little girl. She had to be a princess. The blankets were all in a circle, but to her the line started at her tree, where she always was during the festival. First, they would eat, and then the storytelling of the beginning of Summer Festival, then the dancers, then the dancing and the singing.

Ashkyla bounced into her spot and smiled radiantly around at the other nobles, using all the restraint she'd learned so far as a princess to keep herself from fairly grabbing at the food in an effort to move as quickly as she could through the most boring part of the ceremony. The food was wonderful, all raspberry cream pies and chilled apple cider, but there was nothing to do while she was eating except smile at the occasional well-wisher who was allowed to come see her.

She finished quickly and began watching Lord Elbert out of the corner of her eye. He was an enormous man who always seemed to eat 3 times as much food as everyone else 3 times as slowly. And, for some reason, it wasn't proper etiquette to start the festivities until everyone had eaten, according to Ashkyla's tutor. The lord, however, should have been made an exception. He always finished last, and today they nearly had to tear his plate away from him so everyone could get on with the festival.

The storyteller entered the circle, and bowed to the royalty, then began.

"A long time ago, when the Earth was barely wise yet, the summer never came. First came winter, bitter and cold. Then was spring, and everything bloomed, then came fall and everything began to die once more. The plants never had time to grow. Our ancient ancestors were hungry, with no fruits or vegetables or bread. The animals they ate were growing thin and transparent with so little to eat, and dying. It was a very dreary time. Our ancestors prayed to the Earth to help them, to see their plight. The Earth heard from the slumber of winter and saw their problem. However, she didn't know what to do. She thought for almost the whole spring, and called to her friend, the Goddess Summer, for advice. Summer saw all that was happening to the people and the plants, and came up with a plan. She instructed Earth to make the cycle of the year longer, leaving a pause between spring and fall, for the plants to grow and become plentiful. Earth did so, and at this time asked Sun to shine brighter upon her, to make up for years before. She told the people to call this time "Summer", in honor of her friend. So every year we eat the food we would not have without summer, and dance for her pleasure in a festival in her honor. We also wear no hats or head covering so the sun may shine upon us and so we may all grow within."

The story was already familiar to Ashkyla, but what came after made up for it. The dancing! Everyone moved back to their blankets, as the dancers entered the circle, bowed to her mother and father, and took up their stances around the circle. The women wore long, light, billowing dresses made of dyed grasses and cotton, plants which grew due to summer. The men wore leggings and a simple shirt, died in brilliant colors. They carried long, thin batons with at least 3 or 4 feet of ribbon flowing out form the end. The ribbons had flowers, suns, and long grasses embroidered on them in a summer meadow motif. One dancer, alone, could have entered any dark, desolate room and brightened it to sunshine. The group of twenty standing in a meadow similar to the ones on the ribbons with the sun out and smiles on everyone's faces could barely be described through even a six-year-old's eyes.

They began to jump about, acting out the story in dance. Two dancers arose from the middle of the circle as if they were Summer and Earth, and the others danced about them in mock plight. The dance ended with everyone bowing to them, their ribbons extended and pointing toward them in an image of the sun's rays. Their next dance praised the sun, for shining so brightly down upon everyone. Finally it was time for them to invite the children to dance as well.

Ashkyla smiled broadly at the head dancer who came to lead her onto the field. He bowed to her, and reached for her hand to pull her up, but the Queen intervened.

"Ashkyla will not be dancing, but thank you for your invitation."

Ashkyla glanced over, shocked. She waited until the dancer had moved away, to help teach the simple twirling dance to everyone else, before speaking as calmly as possible. "Mother, why can't I dance this year? I have been good all day, and this is my favorite part."

Her mother looked at her compassionately. "Ashkyla, darling, you are a princess and you are getting too old to be twirling around with the rest of the children. You outrank them, and must always know that."

"But mother, if I'm the princess, why can't I do what I want to? And I'm not getting too old. Elizara is out there, and she is eight!" Ashkyla was practically whining, causing her mother's gaze to sharpen slightly.

"I know dear, but being royalty you have responsibilities. You will find it much easier to ascend to the throne if the nobles around you respect you as the authority." The queen smiled down on her forlorn face and squeezed her hand as if to sympathize with her, then turning to watch the children dance.

Ashkyla nearly cried out that she didn't want to be royalty, that she wanted to be normal, but instead tried to look calm and turned back to the dancers, wishing she was one of them. It was the first time Ashkyla had ever resented being a princess, the first time she wished she would be someone else. The first time of many.

Kady

The figure came closer, panting. As it came nearer, I could see a page's uniform, and strangely enough, long dark hair. Then I could see the odd, nearly spotless, crumpled look of the clothing and… her face. The deep blue eyes and fair skin that marked her as her father's child. The princess's face, downcast and red with tears.

She tripped and fell onto the tree, rolling up to lean on it. Then she began to sob. A small cat crept up and lay down in her lap, but she seemed not to notice. I lay frozen above her, unsure as to what I should do. Slowly the sobs faded, and when I looked down again she seemed to be asleep. I got down and looked at her. She looked awful. There were scratches in her cheeks, and her hair was tangled. The clothes she wore were too big, and now she was covered in crumbly summer dirt. She was a real sight, and a real mystery. I longed to wake her up, but the cat in her lap looked up at me, as if to tell me to leave her alone. I moved around so I was leaning on the trunk next to her, and let my shoulders fall from their high, stressed out position. My eyes began to droop, and the last thought in my mind was how strange this would look if anyone came here and found us asleep.


	8. Kari 3

**Ok, I know I said that I wouldn't do this, but I'm just making a quick point: Bleach was invented 5000 years ago (look it up!) This does have some relevance to the story. Ok, bye now.**

I woke up in the morning when a bird trilled directly above me. I considered rushing up the trunk of the tree and eating him for waking me up (I'm not much of a morning person), but then I realized I had slept all night by a tree, that I wasn't in Ashkyla's room, that I was lying in her lap, and that she was completely dirty. And, more importantly, that _I _was completely dirty. Or, if not completely dirty, at least not my usual spotlessly clean. I leaped away and began to wash myself, as the human next to us woke up. She yawned, blinking in the early morning sunlight, and looked around. Noticing me, she gave a little start, then blinked suddenly and laughed. Personally I didn't find the current situation funny, especially considering the glob of sap pulling the hair on my back leg into ugly little spikes. Shaking her head, she turned back to me.

"Hello kitty. Can I wake your mistress now?" She smiled, and I remembered her. Right before I had fallen asleep, she had tried to wake up my princess, but she had veered away at my powerful unnerving stare. That works every time, and Ashkyla had been through too much to have her sleep disrupted just then. But this time I simply ignored her, and continued to work at the yucky sap as she gently tapped my princess on the shoulder.

Ashkyla woke with a start, her eyes wide. Forgetting my bad-fur day, I walked over to her, confused to see surprise printed so vividly on her face. Her eyes went wider as she realized where she was and she took a deep breath, as if trying to center herself, then said in a small, shaken voice, "Kady?"

"You know my name?" Kady looked surprised as well, and then a bit amused. "I've seen you at you're window often, but I never thought you knew who I was."

"You _saw_ me? I thought I was so inconspicuous." She stretched and looked around a little. "But that's not important right now. Why are you out here?" She reached out and rubbed my head absentmindedly, almost as if we weren't under a tree in the middle of a meadow. Her hand even unconsciously reached for the arm of her throne, eventually finding a large root.

Kady seemed temporarily taken aback at the princess's nonchalance, and launched into speech. "I… I was running away from… whatever happened. I'm still confused. I climbed up the tree when I saw someone behind me, and then it turned out to be you. I suppose I really should be asking about why you're here." Kady settled against the tree next to her, and looked at Ashkyla expectantly. As an afterthought, she said, "Your Highness."

Ashkyla shook her head slowly. "Not anymore. My father and mother are dead." She stopped and closed her eyes, breathing in and out slowly until she could go on. "And I barely escaped with my life. The King of Nirdan has taken my kingdom, and I have nowhere to turn." Then, slowly, she began to explain what had happened, from when she had overheard her father at the dinner table, to when she had fled from the castle. I could see that she was holding back tears at some parts, and at the end she gasped and let the tears trail down her face. "I… I though I had… cried myself… out… last night."

Kady patted her awkwardly, and Ashkyla buried her head in the other girl's shoulder, shaking slightly, but not making any noise. When she finally stopped, Kady held her and arms length and looked her in the eye. "We will get your kingdom back. King Gandon is not the true king. But you are the true princess." The words seemed to pop from her mouth, and even she looked slightly surprised at what she had said.

Ashkyla shook her head again. "There is no way. Any of the guards who drank the wine are dead, and the rest of our army is small and inexperienced, most likely already being defeated by Nirdanese forces. If he finds out I am alive, he will kill me, and if he didn't fall for my trick he may already be after me. It's hopeless." Her mask was beginning to work its way back into control, and suddenly there was the princess again, dirty and tear-streaked, but royal in that quiet way.

Kady tried to smile. "No, it's not hopeless. The people won't like how King Gandon took the throne. They prospered under your father. They will stand behind you when they find out that you aren't dead. We will fight back."

The princess smiled at Kady's hopeful tones, but her eyes were grim. "The king can hardly let word get out that he out-right murdered my father. He will send some lie out among everyone, most likely making my family look awful. If he's clever enough to overtake my country within one night, he will be clever enough to convince the people that they are better off with him than my father. And how are a whole bunch of bakers and maids going to face the king's army." For a moment her eyes cleared, and a small smile spread across her face at the picture.

Kady seemed a bit irked at her amusement, but was apparently determined to stay on her train of thought. "Not everyone will believe the king's words, especially if we spread the truth. And there are many ways in which servants can face an army. You are too much of a pessimist. You will see." Kady brightened a little, and began to get up as if she had made up her mind. "But come. We can do nothing sitting under this tree, waiting for King Gandon's army to find you."

Ashkyla got up and stretched out her cramped legs. Beneath her, crushed, was her journal, obviously forgotten. She still didn't notice it and she followed Kady back toward the city. Must I do everything for her? I picked it up in my teeth and followed them as quickly as I could, finally rubbing against her leg to get her attention. She looked down from her conversation, and took the journal from me, smiling in gratitude, and gripping it tight.

"Where are we going?" She asked, ignoring Kady's questioning glance at the journal.

"To my aunt's house. I'm hoping she will give you shelter, for at least a little while. Until I can find out what's going on at the castle. Her house is around here somewhere, near to the meadow." We had reached the houses, and Kady led us into the shadows, whispering.

Ashkyla stopped and listened for a moment, then followed Kady quickly, glancing around every once in a while. She reminded me of a mouse, scurrying through the shadows. Whenever we reached a corner, Kady would stop and listen too, then look around and beckon Ashkyla forward. Soon we stopped and went up to the door of a house much, muchsmaller that the castle, but about the same size as the ones around it. There was a sort-of small garden in front, with some flowers and a bird bath. I liked the house immediately for the bird bath, although there weren't any birds in it at that moment.

Kady knocked, and a tall woman with an apron on opened the door, staring at us in surprise. Well… staring at Kady and my princess was more like it, I don't think she particularly noticed me because after asking them to come in, she almost closed the door on my tail (second time in the past day!).

"Kady! Why are you here? Is there something wrong with your father? Who is this with…" She stopped talking, having looked straight at Ashkyla for the first time, and gawked, then hastily curtsied. "Your… your highness! What a pleasure to welcome you to my humble abode."

Ashkyla smiled and put her hand on the woman's arm, pulling her up. "I'm no longer a princess, but thank you for your hospitality. I know our presence will need explaining, and it's a rather long story even we don't know the end of. Do you have anywhere we can sit?" She had turned from a rodent to royalty in a moment.

"Well… you can come and sit in the kitchen, although you will have to mind the mess. I was in the middle of cooking breakfast, you see." She led us through a door to her right into a small, warm room with lots of pots and pans and food hanging in the corners. There was a small table in the middle, with lots of chairs around it and a jug in the middle, next to some flowers in a tall, thin cup. I think they're called vases, except this one was much smaller than the ones at the palace.

Kady grinned at her aunt's reaction. "Well, Princess Ashkyla, I would like to introduce you to my Aunt Winny. Aunt Winny, Ashkyla."

Winny turned around with her hand to her mouth. "Oh dear, I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. Please, sit down." She took a seat at one side of the table, and the two girls sat down facing her.

Kady drew a breath. "I'll begin. I haven't explained it all to either of you, so I supposed I should start. Father and I were leaving the kitchen last night, when we heard the guards… talking… about something, some signal, and the whole thing just didn't make sense, but we knew something awful, something underhanded, was happening. We surmised that King Gandon had something to do with it, and then Father told me to go, to run out through the kitchen. I didn't mean to exactly, but when the yelling began, chaos reigned and I was eventually pushed out, running. I saw someone behind me, coming the same way, and thought they were chasing me. I ran faster, and climbed the tree in the meadow, and when Ashkyla came into view, I realized it had been her. I went down out of the tree and lay down on the trunk next to her, and slept until this morning when I woke up the princess, then we came here, and so far that's it." She made a casual half-shrug, as if she had only been describing her trip to the market, and turned to Ashkyla. "Your turn."

"My father and King Gandon were talking… about me, at dinnertime. I was afraid they were arranging some awful marriage for me, so I left dinner early and went up to my room to change into these clothes as a disguise. Then I went downstairs to where the two kings would meet, and saw…" She only paused for a moment this time. "King Gandon's soldiers leapt from hiding spots around the room and then King Gandon killed my father. I ran up to my room, and behind me a guard ran out and shouted to the other guards to attack now. My maid came up with the idea to throw my gown out the window as if I had jumped, and I escaped through a secret passage way until I came out in the gardens. I heard a scream, I know it was my mother's, and I began to run blindly until I eventually came to where Kady found me. The rest you know. But now, neither of us have any clue as to what is happening back at the castle." Ashkyla had sped through her account, and now she stopped and looked at Winny. "I'm sorry; this must be a lot for you. I should have explained more slowly. But the outcome is that I am no longer the future ruler, and that I am worse off all of a sudden than the poorest beggar." Once again, she had to take a deep breath.

Winny had been staring into space, like a cat, facing the window. Finally she turned back to us (I had rested my back feet on Ashkyla's lap and my front feet on the top of the table so I could see) and said something she should have said at the very beginning. "You have a cat?" Well, it came out slightly hoarse, and didn't make up for missing the obvious fact before, but at least she had noticed me.

Kady struggled to keep a straight face, although I didn't find it very funny, and broke the momentary silence. "You didn't know? She's legendary at the castle." This made up for it, I suppose, being called legendary.

"No, not really. I mean, I heard once in passing that you had a cat, but I suppose…" Winny sighed and stood up. "Your cat isn't the issue here." Well, so much for that. I'm not sure if I like this Winny person. "What _is_ the issue is how we are going to deal with this. If they suspect that you're still alive, I'm sure the King will be looking for you… And they'll probably be expecting you to try and leave the city, so the best thing to do would be if you stayed here. I suppose you could sleep in the boys' room until they return from Loring. We are moving, you see, and my husband and our sons went to look at the house, and perhaps make a few changes. Then they will come back to move everything. They left just yesterday. They won't be back for two weeks, so you can stay here until then." She had begun to pace a little, as if working everything out in her head.

Kady stepped on Ashkyla's foot as she attempted to rise, obviously predicting a polite refusal. "Thank you Aunt Winny. Now all we have to do is figure out how to get the country back." Kady smiled jokingly. "I'll go back to the castle soon. I can find out what has happened, and I'm sure father is wondering about me." A worried expression wormed its way into her face all of a sudden. "But first, let's figure out how we're going to hide the princess. If King Gandon fell for your trick, you can most likely escape notice by simply staying out of sight, but you can only stay here for a week or two. So we'll have to disguise you, in a more permanent way than this uniform." Kady gestured at the dirty, crumpled, and torn tunic, which now seemed even less disguising than it had last night. "It would most likely be most discreet to dress you up as a commoner; after all they are looking for a princess."

Ashkyla stood up now, meaning I ended up having to jump onto the table at the last minute or fall embarrassingly to the ground. She looked around, almost indignant. "Wait. I'd like to thank you Winny for your hospitality, and I really hope I won't be an inconvenience. And I'd like to thank you Kady for helping me so much so far. But you're treating me like I can't do anything for myself. I may be a princess, but I'm not helpless. If you'd just let me … I can… There's no reason to…" She puttered out, at a loss as to what to say in the situation. I thought she deserved it, after forgetting me on her lap.

Kady smiled and continued talking as if nothing had happened, while Ashkyla floundered around for someway to regain her regal air. "Now, your hair could be a problem. It's very distinctive. So…we're going to have to cut it." She quirked her mouth apologetically. Noble girls weren't supposed to cut their hair until they were officially women. It was supposed to show innocence or something. Many noble women kept their long hair to put up in intricate hair dos. I suppose Ashkyla had never really though about not having long hair before. She looked slightly taken aback at the idea, then slowly nodded.

"I suppose I may… have to disguise… the color, too." She tried to keep her cool, continuing the thread of thought. "My mother uses… used dyes in her hair. Perhaps we can get some dye."

Kady shook her head, "Hair dyes are… rather expensive."

"But maybe… would blanch lighten hair?" Winny went to her cupboard and pulled out a large jar of something. I've heard people talk about blanch before, mainly the maids. I guess it whitens things, but I'm not sure what.

"Isn't that for laundry?" Ashkyla frowned a little. Ah. So that's what it does. Well, _I _wouldn't want laundry liquids in _my _fur, and I suppose she felt the same way.

"Well… yes. But we can test it on the hair we've cut off, and dilute it with some water. It should be fine." Kady tried to look reassuring. "Where are the scissors, anyway?"

"We can't just cut her hair, just like that. We have to wash it and comb it first." Winny picked up a basin from beneath a counter and poured water from a bucket into it. Then she put it on the table and left the room, coming back a moment later with a towel and a comb. She turned a chair against the table, with the back next to the basin, and turned to back to us, who were watching her bustle around creating the instant hair station as if she did it every day. "Now, your highness, lower your hair into the water. It seems all tangled and dirty now. We can hardly just cut it." She said it again, as if a private joke.

I dipped my paw into the water and withdrew it quickly. It was _cold_. Well, at least it was cold for something humans were expected to use. In my experience, they always warmed the water before Ashkyla got in. She sat down in the chair and dropped the ends of her hair into the basin, then lowered her head slowly. As it came into contact with the water she gasped, but continued going down until only her face was out of the water, and her hair swirled beneath it.

"Now lift your head up." Winny placed the towel out behind the basin, and stretched Ashkyla's hair out onto it as she came up, first squeezing the water back into the basin. "Kady, can you move the basin? Thank you dear. Now pass me that comb. Put your head down on the table, my lady."

I watched these actions with interest. It was like they were doing a dance, each step being careful and precise and planned out. Now Ashkyla was leaning back onto the table, looking rather uncomfortable, her long hair stretched out until almost the opposite edge. Slowly, Winny began to comb out her hair. It most likely wasn't too bad, considering how long I had sat through it being combed out last night, but there were dead leaves and twigs in it now that certainly hadn't been there before. Soon, however, the towel was covered in slightly curled strands of long, glistening black hair and there was a small pile of tree-bits next to the cloth.

"Now stand up dear. Slowly! Alright, sit down again." Winny moved the chair away from the table so the back faced the main space and draped the towel down the back so the bottom of it nearly reached the floor.

I was sorely tempted to jump down to the floor and swat at it, but I doubted anyone would really appreciate it. Winny had reached into a drawer and was taking out what looked like two knives attached to each other. I supposed that they were going to be used to cut Ashkyla's hair. Winny left the room again and came back with a large rag, which she put under the towel, which I didn't understand until she began to cut the hair and collected it in the cloth.

But that didn't happen for a few moments. First, Winny ran the comb through Ashkyla's hair again, as if stalling, then moved her hand up and down her hair, trying to find a good spot to cut, it seemed.

Winny moved her hand down a little. Finally satisfied, she dropped her hand, but kept her eyes locked on the spot and reached for the knives. Then slowly, slowly she closed the two blades over the edge of the long black cascade and strand by strand, a wispy dark circle formed on the rag. The two blades clicked together, and we all heard Ashkyla gasp slightly. Then they were open again and cut through a second swathe. For the final time they opened and closed, and we all waited as Ashkyla sat up and turned her head.

"Somehow, that managed to be one of the most dramatic experiences in my entire life." There was a moment of silence, and then the three humans burst out laughing. I didn't see what was so funny. I will never understand humans.

Kady picked up the rag with the hair in it and took it over to the counter as Ashkyla swayed her head around and ran her fingers through her hair, getting used to it. I thought she looked strange, as her hair fell in a completely different way now, but I suppose that was just because cats are observant. I doubt the humans would feel similarly.

"You look so different… it's a good thing!" Kady circled Ashkyla, considering the new state of her hair. "But we still have plenty left to do."

Winny had taken out a little clay bowl. She dipped it into the basin, which was still full of water, and then filled it the rest of the way with thick white powder from the jar of blanch. Then she took one of the twigs from Ashkyla's hair pile and laughingly used it to stir the contents of the owl. Taking a clump of hair from the rag, she spread a layer of the mixture carefully on top, then put it in the sun.

"It may take a while affect the hair. While we wait, I suggest we move on to clothes." Winny turned around and shook her head with a similar air to her reaction to just cutting the hair. "I don't know how you came to have that uniform, but it is much too big for you and now it's dirty and torn. We'll have to find something else for you to wear. I have some old dresses I could take in, I suppose."

"For the time being, it might be easier if she just borrowed some of my clothes. We're about the same size, well I might be a little taller, but it won't matter much." Kady cut in quickly, with a glance at her aunt. She was wearing what looked to me like a curtain which she had rapped around herself then sowed that way. And even I, as a cat without the whimsies humans do about the cloth they insist on putting about their bodies, could tell that it was rather ugly, and looked nearly specifically chosen to make her curly, tree-brown hair look bad. At least compared to what I had seen in the palace, which I suppose isn't really a good comparison.

"But if I wear something of yours, won't people recognize it? I couldn't be seen wearing someone else's clothes, it would seem strange." Ashkyla said with a thoughtful air.

Kady shook her head, with an amused look on her face. "No one notices clothes in the Servant's quarters, everyone is too busy. It will be fine. But I can't get my clothes until I go to the castle. And I want to finish on you before that."

"Well, what's left? We've done all of me that could really be noticed- all of me that we can change at least." Ashkyla stopped talking and bit her lip a little, the same expression I saw her use with her tutor sometimes, when she was trying to think of an elusive answer. "Oh! My name! My story. Who I am."

"Before that… you're skin. It's too… fine, too pampered. We can off set that by getting your face dirty, at least for the time being." Kady walked over to the kitchen's hearth, where the ashes from a previous fire lay. She picked up a long piece of charcoal, which she handed to Ashkyla. "Rub it on your skin a little."

She took it reluctantly, and began to lightly rub it on her skin. Well, it was more a touch it to her skin than a rub. I knew Ashkyla was sensitive about the condition of her skin. She never got the red bumps I saw on other's faces, and whenever she cried she made pains not to appear blotchy. She never let herself stay out in the sun long enough to sunburn, as her father did, but did go out a little to darken her skin color slightly. She calls it a tan. I don't understand why humans need their skin to be the exact right color. Cats have all sorts of different fur colors, and they are all -well, most of them- are fine. Some are nicer than others, like mine, but no one tries to change their fur. And we can't even see out skin, so I suppose it must be different for humans, with no fur. I really do pity them.

Kady looked almost amused, but she sighed exasperatedly. "You have to rub harder." As Ashkyla increased the pressure only slightly, Kady reached forward. "Here, I'll do it- oh. Oh my. I can't believe we missed this." Kady's hand had brushed against Ashkyla's finger, the one with the ring on it. She seemed really taken aback at the sight. I didn't think it was so extraordinary. I thought it was boring. It was much less extravagant than most of the jewelry Ashkyla owned. It was a simple gold band with a small stone set in it and some carvings. She said it was really old and a huge tradition, but I didn't see anything amazing about the ring. It must be a human thing.

Ashkyla gasped too and stared at the ring, hesitating. "I can't take off the ring! It's a symbol. Not one I really appreciated until this moment, but a symbol all the same."

Taking advantage of her momentary horror, Kady grabbed the charcoal and rubbed it enough to evoke a un-princess-like yelp from Ashkyla and create a black shadow across her skin. "There, you see. Well, you can't see, but you'll just have to trust me that it looks much better."

The princess, now looking less and less like the royal I knew, glared reproachfully at Kady, then sighed and rearranged her face back into its normal, calm expression. "I suppose it had to be done, but that was worse than my hair. And what am I supposed to do with my ring? I can't keep it with me, in case someone finds it, but I can't get rid of it. And it's a pretty boring ring, not very noticeable."

Winny, while the girls were wrestling with the charcoal, had been getting out bread and cheese. Now she offered both girls a slice of bread with cheese on top while she gave me a piece of cold beef. It was a little salty, something I've never understood about humans either, why they always have to add strange flavors to things. But I was hungry, and hadn't had a chance to try my paw at chasing mice. There were a few at the palace, but they were small and quick and usually finished off by the kitchen cats before I could get at them, but I had chased one all the way through the gardens once before it escaped through a crack in a hedge.

"I've suddenly realized the last thing we need to do before the princess is properly disguised." Winny waited for the two girls to finish chewing, as if she wanted their full attention, before she announced: "A story. A background. A name, most of all."

Ashkyla smiled and resisted informing her that they had already realized it. Winny had said it so dramatically that it sounded like a song. And Ashkyla had visibly brightened at the thought of a new name. She had complained to me once of how her own sounded. She explained that she was named through some tradition or other, but it sounded like she hated this tradition as much as the rest. She had spent the rest of that afternoon saying her name different ways until she found a way she could say it in her head without flinching. I could tell she was imagining sweeping, glorious names in her head right now. She opened her mouth to suggest something when Kady cut in.

"You_ do_ realize that has to be a simple, commoner's name. It shouldn't have more than two syllables, maybe three if it's very short. But that might draw attention to you, so-" Kady was cut off too.

"Lara!" Ashkyla proclaimed triumphantly. She waved her hands around as if to emphasize her brilliance. Well, at least that's why I would wave my hands around if I were her… and had hands. And she deserves it, I suppose. Lara is a nice name, and she sort of looks like the name. Humans have a strange way of looking like what they are called. Many humans wouldn't be even slightly able to be named most things, and so are generally stuck with whatever name they have. It's a sad fate for anyone, even humans, who generally don't notice most of their sad fates (like not having a tail). Cats, however, simply look like themselves, and we can be called almost any human name. Then again most human names are silly, except of course for mine.

Kady almost jumped at the sudden shout from the previously subdued princess, then smiled approvingly. "Lara works. It's pretty. You can be… my cousin Lara. No, you're my father's sister's husband's cousin's daughter." She gestured at each word. "Sort of a … second cousin-in-law, I suppose. That's confusing enough to explain most things away."

Winny clapped her hands slightly, the look on her face broadening to one of great enjoyment. "You could have come looking for a job, and you can be from Loring. My husband has relatives there, who he's staying with now, so it has a base in truth. Although it might be a problem if anyone were to be asked about you… but we can only hope that you'll be able to blend in. Oh, this is fun, making up stories." From her tone, I could tell that she would be purring if she were a cat.

Kady shook her head absently, but was obviously thinking again. "I think we've covered everything. I guess I should go now. I can only hope…" She sighed deeply and gazed into the sir in the direction of the castle, as if she could see it through the wall.

"I'm sure your father is all right. He sounds sensible. I'm sure he managed to get out of the way before… before… whatever it is." Ashkyla squeezed Kady's hand reassuringly, as if her own father wasn't only a few hours' dead.

Kady lifted the corner of her mouth in a smile as if to say thanks, and it was as if an invisible thread appeared between the two of them. A sudden bond of friendship… or a sudden string. I wonder if they'd mind if I played with it. I have a weakness for strings.

Winny came over then and hugged Kady, and Kady smiled a little more, then left. Winny turned to Ashkyla and started talking to herself about where she would sleep. I tuned out the conversation and began washing myself again, because it suddenly occurred to me that I was putting human conversation above the condition of my fur. Winny came back in, apparently having decided on a room and told Ashkyla to come. I decided that I might as well see it if this was going to be my new territory, and followed them into a room a lot smaller than Ashkyla's at the castle, and a lot less decorated. There are two beds, a tiny table between them, and a window. I curled up at the window sill as Ashkyla opened her notebook again. She hadn't as yet really thanked me for retrieving that.


	9. Diary 2

**Ok, I'm breaking my rule again, but only in the face of reveiws. I am requiring 10 (ya, 10 is a lot, but whatever) more reveiws before I update again. Mwahahaha. This is mainly because I got no reveiws, 0 reveiws, non la reveiws (I totally know french) last time and am rather bitter about it.**

_July 17th, around 8 am or so, the first day of my strange new life_

I don't really want to think about it again, but I should write it down. The King of Nirdan killed them, my parents, and now I'm homeless and would be dead if I hadn't escaped the castle. I threw my dress into the moat, so they would think I drowned, but it may not work. I met Kady, the chef's daughter, in the Meadow, and she brought me to her aunt's house. So here I am, and I'm a completely different person all of a sudden. For one thing-

I have a name! A new name! I've always hated Ashkyla. You see, noble girls are named by taking the first syllable of their mother's mother, and the last two syllables of their father's mother, then combining them. It all started when someone had lots of children and got too lazy to name them all. So they started this system. It gets a whole lot more complicated after the second girl (just the order of mothers switched) so I guess they weren't too lazy to figure that all out.

But now everything about me is new. My new hair. It's short. I cut it. Well, not me, Winny did, but that's not the point. You know, I was shocked when Katy first suggested that I cut my hair, which surprised me again. I had never thought about cutting my hair before, because noble girls aren't supposed to until they are married or well into adulthood. And some still just keep their hair long, so I had always though I would just do that.

But the reason it surprised me the second time was because it's a princess requirement. Being surprised at the suggestion. I suppose I've spent so long pretending to care about those things whilst convincing myself that I don't has had a secret effect on me. I hate to think I've been lying to myself about myself. Well, I suppose being annoyed about it proves that I really have resisted my parent's traditions a little.

I realize now that I really haven't explained anything, just breezed through it. I'm too full of emotions right now. Happiness, confusion, suspense, sadness, and impatience all combine to make everything un real. It almost seems like I have to write it down before it goes away, or maybe to make room in my head for whatever is going to happen next. Anyway, Kady is a little older than I, and I've watched her around the castle for ages. She's sort of my real imaginary friend. In any scenario I would need to puzzle out in my head I use her as an example, I make up stories about her life, and always think of her as the person I would want to be. I've never imagined conversations with her, meeting her, or anything of the sort before. And now she's taken me in, or rather to her Aunt's house (that's Winny) and they buzzed around me for what must have been at least an hour making me look _less_ princess-like, _less_ regal.

I've always been pampered, I know that, but this was a strange new situation. I hated it, but at the same time it was freeing me. It is like being able to tear up a page of careful copying after it's done and been checked by my tutor, making a mess when no one is looking, leaping around, up and down and everywhere, and shouting at the end of a long day when there's no one else around. _Not_ being a princess, _not _being regal is almost the reward I get when I'm alone after a day of princessing about. And that's almost what it was like to cut my hair, lower the status in my name, dirty my skin, eat just plain bread and mild cheese. It was awful, but wonderful.

But I haven't really mentioned who Kady and Winny are yet, only who they are to me. I have to stay on topic. Kady is tall, with short… well, I shouldn't be talking right now, should I… blond hair that is often pulled up in a really short pony tail, and she has greenish-brown eyes, tanned skin, and a few freckles. She is quick and bright, as I've learned today, and truly my first real friend. Well, my first friend besides Kari, who followed me this entire time, and is currently ignoring me. I don't know what I would do without her. Truly, I'm not being sarcastic about that. She's my support, and I could never bear to lose her. She's not just a cat to me.

I can never stay on one subject recently, can I? Ok, Winny, Kady's aunt is an interesting character. She has curly brown hair that looks perpetually tangled, and was wearing a dress that she most likely made herself, and you can tell that she isn't a seamstress, not by a long shot. Either that, or whoever she had sow the dress really didn't like her, and I couldn't ever see anyone buying a dress like that. It looks like a sack with some dirty flowers dyed on – I 'm being a princess again. Talking about clothes, and sounding judgmental about people. Actually, I really like Winny, and am very grateful to her, as she is letting me stay in her house. She has a very loving character, and a motherly spirit, with a strangely organized sense to everything around her but her. Now that sentence sounds like the sweet, annoyingly kind princess who manages to maintain an impressive lack of reality. Ugh. I really can't keep from sounding regal. Or maybe it's just when I'm writing. Most people would want to sound regal, and here I am complaining about it. This is the story of my life.

I feel like I've changed somehow since… everything. I mean, it's like a piece of my life has floated away, and even as I'm aching for its loss I'm filling it in again. Or, almost, like it's being filled in for me. I've felt almost light-headed all morning. Not in a tired, airless way, but a whooshing, almost-chaotic way. This is first time I've really had to relax today, and it's only been a few hours since I woke up but it seems like so much longer looking back. And that whooshing, that hurry, is beginning to recede. All of a sudden I'm really calm. If I hadn't woken up so recently I'd be tired. Actually, I am tired. I suppose that there is nothing for me to do right now except to wait for Kady. She went to the castle, to find out what was going on. I think I'll just lie down for a while.


	10. Kady 2

**OK, it's been awhile, I'm sorry. I really don't have much of an excuse. I was experimenting with another account and realized that A) authors notes are fun! and B) I was being REALLY stupid with the whole '10 reveiws' thing. Sorry. I'll do responses next chapter.**

The castle is so quiet. I almost expect a soldier to jump out at me. I have to calm down. Now, how do I get in the castle? The plan seemed great up until here. Maybe… no the kitchen will be guarded, or at least someone would notice if someone came in suddenly.

I had come through the small, ivy-covered door in the wall Ash… Lara had left through. It's still open, which means that no one had been out here, or at least they hadn't noticed anything. I was sitting on a bench hidden from the castle by some hedges and trying to think. Perhaps I could follow Lara's path back into the castle. Find that secret passageway. It's worth a try.

I got up and looked around for a bunch of hedges near the wall, or more specifically a hole in a bunch of hedges. Hedge … hedge … hedge. I wished I'd asked her more about this. It's just suddenly occurred to me how amazing it is that there are hidden tunnels in the castle. Hedge… hedge… hedge. My family has worked here for 3 generations, and I've never heard about them. They must be old then, ancient even. Perhaps they even go up to the old towers. Hedge… hedge… hedge. I've always wondered about them. The towers always seemed so tall and sturdy to me. Hedge … hedge… hole!

I've been in these gardens so many times, and yet I never noticed that. I suppose it must have gotten a bit bigger when the princess climbed through it, but it's still surprising what you notice when you bother to look. I had to squeeze to get through the hole, which was still small, no matter how noticeable, as was the hole in the wall behind it. I crawled for a few minutes, then realized there was air above my back. I stood up and cracked my head painfully on the ceiling, which was still much too low.

I kept on walking, sighing aloud with relief when I could finally stand up. But with the sudden lack of discomfort, my mind turned to other things, and I realized that the light was dimming. Soon it was completely dark. I kept on walking, trying not to think about what could be in here that I couldn't see, resisting the urge to brush away imaginary cobwebs.

Suddenly I felt the air whoosh past me, my feet skidded along the ground, and my breath caught in the back of my throat… then I was standing still in the tunnel again. Almost exactly as I had been before. Ashkyla hadn't mentioned this… and it was worth looking into. But later. I resisted the urge to turn around and experiment, and continued further. I should see… there! A little square of light, outlining the tapestry.

It suddenly occurred to me that there might be people in Ashkyla's room, and that it would hardly be unnoticeable if someone climbed through a tapestry over what was supposed to be a wall. I stopped a few feet from the opening and listened: nothing. Then I slowly crept forward and peeked around the hanging.

The room looked horrible. The desk was on its side, purple ink staining the woodwork and forming a pool on the carpet. The sheets had been torn off the bed, and a number of gowns thrown to the floor around the closet. Combs, brushes, and other beauty supplies had been flung about the room, and one of the windows had a sliver of a crack where it seemed to have been hit by a ceramic pot full of cream, which was in pieces on the windowsill. There were purple footprints all over the room, becoming fainter and fainter until they left the room.

As I couldn't see anyone, I had stepped out into the room, missing by an inch what appeared to be a broken bottle of perfume. Stepping around the mess carefully, I got to the door, which was hanging off its hinges. Then it suddenly occurred to me that this was the only part of the scene that made sense. Ashkyla would have heard such a big fight, and most likely would have mentioned it. In fact, she had specifically recalled silence.

Later. I pushed the thought from my mind, and peeked around the door. No one. The silence was beginning to bother me too. What had happened to everyone? I crept down the stairs, the silence wreaking havoc on my nerves. Every step seemed loud enough to wake the dead. When an echoing DONG came rang out from the Great Hall, I felt as if I was going to explode with the sudden rush of adrenaline. I vividly imagined my hair standing on end, and spent several moments breathing deeply before I was calm enough to think.

Obviously there was something going on in the Great Hall. As I walked closer, I began to hear voices, resonating down the hall, going from confused to angry to arrogant. However, I couldn't figure out any distinct words. I would have to get into the Great Hall. How could I get in there without being seen? The whole point of that room was to make an entrance. Wait… there was the balcony. Depending on the occasion, it was used as everything from a vantage point for the King and Queen to a social corner for gossiping duchesses. But right now it would most likely be empty.

I crept around the corner, into the next hallway, and up the stairs leading to the balcony. Slowly I opened the door, praying no one would notice, and got down on my hands and knees, crawling forward until I could see through the bars of the marble railing. And the scene below was utterly beyond explanation. The giant tables and the chairs had been pushed against the walls, leaving the center of the room free. Most of the space was taken up by what seemed to be nobles. Most looked disoriented, with messy hair-dos and wrinkled clothes. It looked as if they had slept in the great hall, on the floor. Off to the side were the servants, looking just as tired and confused as the nobility. I searched their faces frantically, finally resting with relief upon my father's face. But he looked pale, and Jack seemed to be supporting him as he stood.

Suddenly the DONG came again. I turned my head across the room, to the thrones. King Gandon was sitting in the King's throne. The loud gong sound seemed to have come from the soldier next to him who was holding a large shield in one hand and a sword in the other. Everyone was suddenly quiet, staring at the King. He certainly shouldn't have been sitting there. He smiled widely at them, as if welcoming them to a ball instead of addressing a crowd of people sitting on the hard marble floor.

"Good Morning! I apologize for the rough night." He said as if that made up for it all. I saw a few glares pass through the sea of faces below me.

The King's face took a drastic change, becoming remorseful so fast that you barely saw his face change. "I'm afraid, however, that there are graver things this morning than sore muscles. Last night three people were killed." He paused, to let his words sink in, and let his face droop even more. "The royal family is dead."

Gasps broke out across the room. Time seemed to pause, everyone wearing the same shocked expression. The King continued before anyone could recover. "Poor, dear King Phillip was the victim of a poisoning. Through all the bustle and rush of the day, he failed to have his wine tested. And, in some ways, he saved me from the same fate. Before the ball last night were having a friendly meeting, ironically speaking of the future. He poured us both some wine, and took a sip before I could pick my glass up. Suddenly he began convulsing, obviously in great pain. I jumped up, but there was nothing I could do. His dying words were for me to take care of everything for him. And, though it hurt me greatly to do so, I mercifully stabbed him through the chest to end his life quickly."

"I sent my soldiers away, both so that they could tell his wife and daughter and so I could mourn privately. Unfortunately, that was not the last of the tragedy. Beautiful  
Princess Ashkyla, who barely had a chance at life, mistook the intent of my soldiers. She jumped from her window, in an attempt to escape, and drowned in the moat. Her mother, loyal to the end, misunderstood as well, thinking her daughter had been thrown out the window, and ended her own life instead of giving it to those she thought her enemy. We will all forever mourn the loss of such a spirit."

"But that is not all. We have traced the entire travesty back to one person." He paused again, this time for dramatic affect. "Para, the Princess's maid. She poisoned the wine, and convinced the princess of my evil intent, telling her to jump out the window. At the same time, she was yelling loud enough for the Queen to hear and panic. Once my soldiers had entered the room, Para confessed to all of it. And instead of seeming remorseful for committing so dire an act she cackled like a witch. And, once she was done, before anyone could react, she had uncorked a vile and thrown the liquid inside down her throat. Her life ended faster than even the King's."

"We immediately called you in here for you own protection. We are not sure what has been poisoned, and whether this was just one mad woman's doing or a concerted effort. Also, as you no longer have a ruler, I shall be taking over. It was, after all, your former King's dying wish. And I would not like to leave this fair country vulnerable to any evil plot. I must leave you now to see to the testing of the food. Please do not try to leave until you can be assured of your safety."

And with that he swept about, long fur-rimmed robes swishing behind him, and left the Hall through the Great Doors being held open by two of his guards, who closed them after him. And with that clang all chaos broke loose. It was as if everyone had been holding their breath, all the air seemed to whoosh back into the hall at once along with all the sound. People were crying, yelling, swearing, standing up and running about.

I looked again to my father. He looked livid. He was yelling something at Jack who, for once, wasn't trying to calm him down. And I suddenly realized that I was angry too. How dare he utter such bold faced lies? Para was one of the most wonderful people I had ever met. When she wasn't attending to the Princess she had been down in the Kitchen helping to stir something or washing dishes with the scullery maids. She groomed the flowers in the garden and carried messages about from one part of the castle to another. She was everywhere, and yet still had time to help those who needed it. When mother died… I waved that thought away. I don't think I'll ever get over that.

Now… now, I needed to leave. It won't be long until someone looks up here and sees me. And then who knows what will happen? I edged back out of the door and closed it behind me as softly as possible, pausing to listen for any noise before making my way back down the stairs. I put my back to the wall and worked my way as noiselessly as possible toward the corner. My nerves were working their way back up through my arms; I was once again tingling with anxiety. One step at a time. I backed around the corner slowly, half expecting to see the King still there, then, unable to take it anymore, swung around to run toward the spiral stairs leading to the Princess's rooms… and, of course, ran smack into a soldier.

A shriek rang out of me involuntarily and he clapped a hand over my mouth, looking almost as frantic as I had to.

"Shh! Do you want to get caught?" He whispered. He sounded slightly familiar. But how could that be? He was from another country … unless… yes. He was one of the guards who had been in the servant's quarters the other day. But then why was he helping me?

I nodded quickly to show him that I would be quiet and he dropped his hand, pushing it through his honey-colored brown hair nervously. "Come with me." I followed him out the unguarded door into the silent garden. I shivered again at the silence. Finally we stopped in a small courtyard with only a small bench and a statue of the Flower Goddess.

"Thank you!" I said as we stopped. I considered asking him why he was helping me, but I didn't feel like pushing my luck, and whirled around to leave.

"Wait!" Damn it. "How did you get in there?"

" I – " Why was I telling him? "Why should I tell you?" I frowned at him. Although I wanted to leave, I felt that I was already being rude and it would only be worse if I left. And maybe I could get some answers out of him, now that I was still here. There were so many things that I didn't quite understand.

Then again … I looked quizzically at him, raising my eye brow at his uniform. He sighed. "I promise I won't tell anyone. I just want to know. Ok, I guess that you have no reason to trust me. You'll just have to believe me though." He looked exasperated, utterly unable to convey what was in his head.

And strangely enough I found a smile pulling at my face. He just looked so vulnerable, so completely confused with himself. He was practically pleading with me to believe him, and I didn't even know him. I had been in this sort of situation before enough times that I could sympathize. Life was often much too hard. But, in this one little instance, I could do something to make everything just a little easier for someone. So that's how I found myself, against my better nature, blurting out, "I used a secret passage way."

…And fairly bursting into laugher at the new bewilderment that crossed his features. I almost wished that I had run into an angry guard instead of him. I could have simply hit him and run, but instead, here I was, laughing in a courtyard with the enemy. And probably looking rather deranged. "I'm sorry. I just really haven't laughed much recently."

Which was true. Not just this past week, but for months. Maybe even longer than that. It's not that I've been sad, it's just that everything's been just happy, never more, never less. And my life has become a routine, boring to think about and not much more exciting to take part in. It's forever mixing and stirring and adding and measuring. I am good at cooking; after all I come from a long family of chefs and cooks, but have never felt the joy I see on my father's face, that glow of doing exactly what you should be doing in the world.

But that's just it. I know I could very well do just fine cooking, probably even moving up to take my father's position one day (although female First Chefs are rare), but I know that my place in the world is not in a kitchen. My place _is_ the world. I want to see the great oceans I had read about in books, water stretching to the horizons. I wanted to wander the enchanted forests and find the hidden glens of magic. I wanted to meet foreign people, with other cultures, to learn other languages.

"Me neither." The soldier's face softened slightly and I realized that he couldn't be much older than I was, maybe 18 or 19.

"What?" I asked. Great way to prove that I was sane.

"I haven't laughed much either. This whole thing …" He trailed off, waving his hand through the air as if pointing to the entire situation.

"Ok, I answered your question. Now I get one." I paused, thinking. His face didn't close up, like I thought it would. In fact, he almost looked eager. Finally I gave up on finding specific wording and relinquished to the overall confusion that was practically floating about in the air. "Why is the Royal Family dead? Why is there a foreign King striding about the palace? What is _really _going on?"

"Do you have all day?" He joked sourly.

I considered the question. I had never said when I would be coming back to my aunt's house, just that I was going to get information. And really, what better source than the King's own guard? "Yes, actually, I do have all day." I sat down on the bench and looked at him expectantly.

He looked surprised. Then again, I would be too if someone had answered my rhetorical question. "Well, I suppose it all started when King Gandon was training for his Knighthood. Back then he was just the second son of a minor Lord, one who had never been very ambitious. His father didn't even have enough land to split between him and his older brother, so Gandon was forced to find his own way in life. He put his entire life savings into becoming a knight, and worked ferociously towards achieving his goal.

My uncle was the assistant-hostler at the Royal Stables. He managed to heal Gandon's horse when he broke an ankle, and they have been friends ever since. The year Gandon finished his training there was a great tournament. The prize was 50,000 gold pieces and, traditionally, a kiss from the Crown Princess. Of course Gandon won. He fell in love with the Princess, and she with him, and a year later they were engaged.

And then another year had passed and the old King died. Gandon had become the ruler of his country. But, as my uncle has often said, Gandon isn't the sort of person who is ever completely satisfied with anything. He began to want more than just the kingdom of Nirdan. And when his twin sons were born he vested this want through them. He decided that he had to have another Kingdom, so that neither of his sons would have to make their own way in the world. And so he chose Canderon. And here we are." He gave a final flourish and sat down heavily across from me on the bench.

"But why … why are you telling me all this?" It really makes sense now, though. The King had to be crazed to do something so huge.

"Because I don't agree with any of it. I got caught up in the rush and just couldn't escape." He looked sad again, the fervor of storytelling gone from his light brown eyes. And for some reason this disappointed me.

"What do you mean?" I'm just the queen of questions today. I hope he doesn't notice.

"Do you really want to know?"

I nodded.

He smiled briefly, and began again. "When I was very young, both my parents died and so I was sent to live with my uncle. I grew up helping my uncle in the stables, watching the knights-in-training gallop about with swords and bows and arrows. And somehow I managed to get it into my head that I wanted to be a knight.

As I said, my uncle was a friend of Gandon's. As he didn't have the resources to grant that wish, he asked his great friend, the King, to sponsor me. He readily agreed and soon I had joined the incoming First-year trainees. I spent 6 years training until I was knighted. Sir Nathaniel." He spat the title out. "Even then I thought it would be exciting to be a Knight. I spent a year with a group of 11 other knights, riding through the country and enforcing the King's Law wherever it was needed.

And last year I stopped a runaway arrow from hitting the King. All I really did was knock him out of the way, it wasn't really much of anything. And the arrow had come from the practice fields, so it was hardly directed at him. But everyone suddenly regarded me as a hero. I was promoted to the Royal Guard. At seventeen, I was the youngest knight to have joined the elite group in nearly 200 years. So, of course, I was an even bigger hero.

And then, 6 months ago, the King started making plans. He knew that we would be invited to Princess Ashkyla's Crown Birthday, and considered it the perfect opportunity. This castle wasn't very well guarded in this time of peace, and he would be inside of it, regardless. He could hardly pass it up. So he gave us each instructions, and we accompanied him here, to the palace. I, and three others, were told to keep the servants from getting to their rooms, to instead make sure that they went into the Great Hall.

So I spent all of last night keeping people from having the comfortable night's sleep they obviously needed and occasionally terrifying them by accidentally waving my spear at them. And this morning I was patrolling the hallway while the King was in the hall when I saw you rush up the stairs to that balcony. I have no idea what would have happened to you if another of the Guards saw you, and it really was a close thing. I really didn't want that on my conscience. And so I took you out here." He paused. "Well, there."

I almost asked him again why he was telling me, but for some reason I felt like that would be insensitive. Then again, there really is no good response to someone who has just told you their life story. Except one. "I suppose I owe you something now. Ask me any question."

He smiled briefly, as if just waiting for me to say this. "How have you come to be here? You could be the one, tiny wrench in an otherwise flawless plan. Everyone else is where they're supposed to be … except me of course, but that is regardless. What is your story?"

I couldn't help smiling too, perhaps once again at the absurdity of the situation, or perhaps because his was so catching. It was like yawning. Not the smile, the way my mouth had the urge to copy him. Anyway.

"I am the daughter of the Head Chef. It's pretty much a family thing, and I have lived in the Palace my entire life. So up until about yesterday it's been relatively boring. But yesterday, well, my father had been in the Kitchens for almost 14 hours straight and it was high time that he left. The Second Chef, Jack, ordered us both out, and we were walking down the hallway toward the servants quarters when we heard… well, you and three others talking." His eyes wandered for a moment as he drew up his memory as well and he grimaced. I pretended not to notice and continued. "My father jumped to conclusions, which were, I suppose, correct, and sent me out of the castle. I ended up running to a meadow and…" This was where Ashkyla came in. Lara came in. Whatever.

I trailed off without realizing it, wondering whether or not to tell him. He had been trustworthy up until now, but I doubted that anything I had told him before was life or death. And this certainly was. Perhaps he was faking the whole thing to gain my trust and was trying to get me to tell him where the princess was.

That was absurd. How would he know that I knew where the princess was? Unless someone had seen us… well, then they would have struck then instead of now. Still, I had only known this Nathaniel for less than an hour. I had already spewed enough secrets at him.

"And…?" Nathaniel's voice surprised me. My head shot up to find his eyes focused completely on me. I half-way wanted to blush. But I don't blush. And, so what, he was looking at me.

"And I fell asleep in a tree then came back here to find out what's going on." I finished. I was still feeling a bit paranoid and didn't want to reveal even the fact that I had gone to my aunt's house.

He frowned, still looking a bit suspicious, then seemed to shrug it off. "It's not like I told you my whole story either." He said jovially.

Once again, I had no idea as to how I should respond. I really aught to stop thinking so much and stood up. I honestly couldn't think of one more question, and it didn't seem as if he had one either. I hoped.

"Well, that was interesting. I have to go now, see you later." I tried to leave again, as quickly as possible, as it was really just wishful thinking on my part that he wouldn't have anymore questions. And I was afraid that somehow I would tell him about Lara. Ha, that time the name just came naturally.

"Wait!" Of course. He has a habit of shouting that, doesn't he? "I don't know your name." He said pleasantly.

"Oh." I said, trying not to sound relieved. I doubt it worked. "I'm Katy." I stuck my hand out.

He looked at it for a moment, as if at a loss, then grinned and said, "I'm Neil. Not Nathaniel." He grabbed my hand and shook it firmly. I resolved not to gauge his hand texture. Besides, mine was probably as callused as his was. Oops. Oh well, it's not like it matters much. That I noticed, not that his hands are rough. I truly cannot think right now.

"Well Neil not Nathaniel, this time I really do have to go." This time I walked slowly, at a normal pace, from the courtyard and all he did was yell 'Bye.' Maybe that's all I had to do in the first place, instead of inciting his curiosity.

Once I was out of sight of the courtyard I searched along the wall until I found the little ivy colored door. Shutting it behind me, I walked slowly back to my Aunt's house, trying to figure out how to phrase exactly what had just happened. This is not going to be a fun walk.


	11. Chapter 11

**Ok, so, even less of an excuse for not updating for SO long except that I got caught up in school and had no time because English class takes up SO much time right now, for no good reason. Also, I accidentally wrote two chapters (don't ask how) so the one will come as soon as I feel like it. Mwahaha. Quick replies to reveiws you don't remember from months ago:**

**Salma-Sol - I didn't want the Ashkyla-Kady thing to come off as worshipful. Sorry. And yeah, I love diary entries. When i put things in first person, they end up like diary entries. You'll see next chapter. It's bad.**

**EvenSong - I totally agree with you, long hair is fabulous, I refuse to cut mine even though it's thick and dark a curly and dry and evil, but I love it. And thank you for the honest comment! I started this all way more than a year ago, and the plot keeps changing in my head because whenever I get bored I develop my story, and it tends to change in my head each time I think about it.**

**And, now, get ready for a few melo-dramatic paragraphs! (I would insert a 'what happened last chapter' except that it's more fun to make you go back and read it yourself!)**

She woke up suddenly. It was less of a waking up with a start as one moment being asleep and the next awake. She felt utterly refreshed, but wondered exactly how long it had taken her to rejuvenate. She looked over to her window. The sun was sort of half way up in the sky, around 9:00.

Kari was sleeping in the sun, looking too adorable for words. Ashkyla smiled and resisted the urge to pick her kitten up, knowing that the feisty cat certainly wouldn't at all appreciate it.

"Lara." She said to herself, out of the blue, wrapping her arms around herself. She shook away her fear at the thought of a whole new future and looked decisively out the window. "Lara." She repeated.

The sound of a tentative knock roused her from the rather too dramatic moment and she swung around to see a swatch of brown curls come tumbling into the room ahead of her visitor.

"Oh, good you're up." Winny came all the way into the room, holding a basket and pretending not to notice Ashkyla's embarrassment. "I'm going to the market to buy some things. You will have the house to yourself for a bit, and I just wanted to make sure that you were alright before I left."

"I'm fine, Winny. Thank you so much for checking on me. Is there anything I can do for you while you are gone?" The princess said quickly.

Winny looked surprised. "Well, I suppose it would be nice if you could water my herbs for me?" She said tentatively, continuing only at Ashkyla's smile. "The watering can is next to the back door and you can just use some of the water left over from when we cut your hair. There is a small, fenced off area in the back, and if you could just water the first row, that would be lovely."

Ashkyla got out of the bed, stretching a bit, and walked with Winny to the front door before bidding her goodbye.

"Right then, watering can." The princess said with gusto. Then she broadened her accent and deepened her voice slightly, trying to imitate a commoner. "Roight thain, woitering kin." She said thickly then frowned at herself. They would think her the village idiot, sounding like that.

Kari woke up at Ashkyla's rather loud statement and wandered into the hallway where she found the girl looking rather annoyed and making odd garbled noises as she waved her hands around.

For a moment Kari thought that she was choking, then realized she was trying to make words. Every few syllables the tone or the accent would change, getting steadily farther and farther away from a recognizable language, at least any sort of human language. Kari wondered if she was trying to speak snail.

Ashkyla was beginning to admit to herself that she would never get it properly when a loud feline screech surprised her so much that she jumped. She turned toward the cat, who was looking rather smug at her princess's reaction. Ashkyla felt as if she should be angry, but picked Kari up anyway. She rubbed her kitten between the ears and felt reassured by the vibrating purr she received.

"I don't need an accent, really, do I? Many commoners are educated, and I… I could have grown up in a noble's home. No, that would be too easy to disprove. Perhaps my father was a tutor. Or my uncle. Or my neighbor. No, I've got it, my best friend's father, who ran a little school for the children in our area. He taught aristocrats and perfected all of our lingual abilities so that, as he often said, 'We could convince someone with one word that we were as good as any nobility'." Ashkyla shifted her cat in her arms and went in search of the back door. "You know, Winny was right, that really was fun." Kari purred.

The house was relatively small and it was rather easy for Ashkyla to find the back door. But it was a bit harder for her to find the watering can. The only thing she saw was a large metal thing that looked like a tea kettle gone wrong. But, as there was nothing else out there except dirt she picked it up and walked back into the house.

The thing, or rather, she supposed, the watering can was rather heavy. And once she had dipped it into the basin water it became even heavier and slippery and she couldn't keep her grasp on the thing steady. Every move she gave made caused even more water to slosh over the side.

Soon she was half soaked, hugging the tin monstrosity and stumbling, almost doubled over, through the house. Ashkyla, at one point, had to desperately grab the long spout-y thing at the front and found that it made a good handle. That solved one mystery, although the holes at the end still confused her.

Once she got outside, she put the watering can down and tried to figure out what was the herb garden. There were two small, fenced off areas. One was a bit bigger than the other and had what might have been the beginnings of lettuce in one row and lots of little green sprouts in the others. So that was probably the vegetable garden. The other one had smaller sprouts, not all of which were green.

Ashkyla picked the watering can up again by the long handle and headed toward the smaller enclosure, stepping into it before finding herself faced with another problem. She had no idea how to get the water out. It seemed to come out itself from the large hole at the top, but Ashkyla had no clue as to how to pour it.

After trying a number of positions she ended up awkwardly bracing the bottom of it with one hand while tipping the long handle forward until water poured out from the top onto the herbs below.

And so, when Kady came back and heard splashing coming from the back, she headed around the corner and found Ashkyla standing on a sprig of Thyme holding onto the spout of a large watering can whilst pouring water out the top of the thing and pretty much drowning the mint.

Kady was momentarily speechless, wondering if the Princess had gone crazy, and found herself running forward, hoping to stop the girl before she reached the basil.

"Ash- Lara! Stop! What are you doing?" Kady's sudden appearance startled Ashkyla so much that she lost her grip on her adopted handle and the entire contents of the can poured down onto her feet. She jumped again, this time because she was still barefoot and was beginning to doubt the possibility of clean feet ever again.

"Look what you made me do!" She waved her hand at the dirty puddle forming around her toes then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, you startled me. It's just that I had finally gotten the hang of things and-" She turned, slightly irritated, toward Kady who was trying and failing to contain her giggles.

"You were holding the watering can backwards." Kady gasped out. She looked as if she was in a much better mood than she had been… whenever it was when she had gone to the palace.

Ashkyla stepped carefully out of the pool of water and out of the garden, jokingly shoving the empty can towards her friend. "If you're such an expert, why don't you water the garden?"

Kady began walking back to the house and began to demonstrate correct watering technique. "Well, you _were_ holding it backwards. _This _part is the handle. What you were holding is the spout. You're supposed to pour the water through it. That's why there are holes." She said slowly, as if talking to a simpleton.

Ashkyla snorted, for the first time in her life. Her eyes widened in shock and she practically clapped a hand over her mouth. Then she calmed herself, realizing that common people snorted all the time. She had even heard her mother snort once. She caught up with Kady, who was pretending not to notice, and attempted to restart their conversation.

"Well, if _you _had never seen a watering can before I bet that you'd do the same thing."

"Why were you using it anyway? It looks like you had a sudden urge to turn the garden into a lake. And where is my aunt?"

"Your Aunt went to the market and I volunteered to help with something, so she asked me to water her herb garden. And I didn't mean to do anything to the plants, it's just that I've never used a watering can before, I'm not used to it." In fact, Ashkyla's hands were bright red from the combination of cold water and rough metal and beginning to smart.

"Well I suppose we can cross gardener off your list of possible careers." Kady said jokingly as she swung into the kitchen and filled the watering can again. "You see, the hole at the top is for filling the can with water and if you tilt it like so," She tilted the watering can so that water poured back into the basin, "water will come out, in manageable quantities, from the spout." She handed the watering can back to the princess. "Now you try."

Ashkyla gave another, tentative, snort and poured the water correctly, if a bit wobbly, into the basin then headed back outside. "Well, now that our mini crisis has been solved, what did you learn at the palace?"

It was Kady's turn to be embarrassed. She berated herself for the feeling and followed Ashkyla back outside. "I think I'll wait until Aunt Winny comes back. I don't feel like telling it twice, really."

"So it's not urgent?" Ashkyla asked hopefully. Kady realized, with a sudden plunge in her stomach, that she hadn't found out if they thought the princess was dead or not. And all she really did have was a long-winded lie from the King and a soldier's life story.

Kady sighed. "No."


	12. Ashkyla 1

**Not even going to start on the almost-six-months thing - I feel guilty, and that's that.**

**Plot Summary: **

**Princess Ashkyla's parents were killed by a visiting king on her 16th birthday (a birthday marked by the ceremonial gift of a golden ring to the heir to the thrown), and she had to fake her death to escape. The First Cook's daughter, Kady, found her and the two of them and the Princess's cat went to Kady's aunt's house the next morning. Kady's Aunt, Winny, had agreed to let her stay in her house, and then both she and Kady left - Winny to the market, and Kady back to the palace to see what was happening. Kady snuck into the Great Hall, where the servants and visiting nobility had apparently spent the night, and heard King Gandon of neighboring Nirdan (the visiting king whose soldiers killed the real King and Queen) give his version of events - essentially blaming Ashkyla's maid Para for poisoning the King and convincing the Queen and Princess to take thier own lives, and claiming that Para had killed herself after she confessed. On her way back out of the palace, a Nirdanese soldier, Neil, saved Kady from being discovered by other soldiers and told her that the King was planning to give the Kingdom (Canderon) to one of his twin sons, and give Nirdan to the other. Then Kady came back and, not knowing how to phrase what had happened, refused to tell Ashkyla what happened until her aunt came back.  
There.**

Ashkyla

Kady and I have been sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for her aunt to get back, for the past forever. I've learned that having the freedom to do whatever you want can be _incredibly_ boring.

Had yesterday never happened, or happened quite differently, I would probably be seeing off various dignitaries and thanking them once again for long lists of gifts that I would've woken up early to memorize. Then there would be some sort of brunch for those who weren't leaving until later, and I'm sure that a number of people would just _have _to compliment me on some gift or other, most likely one from a friend of theirs(because mother always makes me wear some of them or use some of them or talk about some of them, or all three) and then obsess over my ring and quite plausibly I would have to invite a large number of my 'peers' to a walk through the gardens.

And when everyone had finally left, I would be given the rest of the afternoon to do with as I wished. Which, in reality, is limited to things I can do in my room or the gardens without getting my gown mussed or my hair blown about or any one of the other thousand things that made my life unutterably boring. Usually I would end up sewing (which is actually fun in small quantities) or reading some book with an extremely mundane topic, such as 'Carriage design through the ages'.

And the great excitement would go on until dinner time, at which point one of my parents would give me a speech about my new responsibilities, and my father would most likely have told me about my new engagement.

So perhaps this was more fun, now that I think of it. If I don't think, really, about yesterday. And, really, we hadn't been sitting here forever. After Kady and I finished in the gardens, I had tried to get her to tell me about her trip to the palace. She managed to change the topic to my new life. We had been figuring out the logistics when I remembered my original question and asked again. But right at that moment, Kari came back in from the mysterious nether, proudly dragging a poor little mouse.

It sort of saved Kady from having to answer me as we both became engaged in catching the rodent, for it turned out that he was still alive, just stunned, which became a problem when my darling cat set her prey down. And promptly forgot about him as he ran around the kitchen, looking for a place to hide. Ultimately he managed to find a spot right behind the flour sack, and we very nearly spilt the entire thing on the floor getting him out.

After Kady let the mouse into the backyard, we headed back to the kitchen and cleaned up the little flour that had spilled, then Kari came over and acted insulted that we had thrown away her prize and demanded to be scratched behind the ears. I obliged, and she crawled into my lap and refused to move, so I was pretty much stuck until she became bored with me and left, which took about three minutes. But that's what happens when you introduce a cat to something new. It's always more interesting than you.

Then Kady had immediately latched onto our previous topic. So for the past hour Kady and I have been extending my life story. I told her about my 'school for the little children' idea and she nodded reluctantly, saying that no one was actually likely to ask about the accent, although it was a bit more cultured than the average peasant, and that anyone who actually _would_ notice I could simply avoid speaking around.

We finally decided that I was 15, as it's hard to discern a 16 and one-day year-old from a 15 year old. My birthday is September 23rd, because it's inconspicuous. July 16th is pretty, just sort of nice to look at and say. I suppose I could be saying that just because it's my birthday, and no matter how much it drags, it's always been sort of special to me. Like I suppose it must be for everyone. It's funny how much we don't really understand each other; how many things just sort of go unsaid, because you expect everyone to already know.

But whatever. Anyway, I have two brothers and a sister. My parents have fallen on bad times and sent me away to their distant relative's house, because they work at the Palace. I'm looking for a job to keep my family together. My father was educated (maybe his father was a school teacher or something; I'm rather stuck on that idea) and he made sure that we all knew how to read and write. Depending on whether or not I needed it for my job application, I could also reveal my further schooling, but Kady said that reading, writing, and maybe adding was pretty much it.

While I was growing up, I had a dog (not a cat because we're trying to avoid parallels to my actual life, but Kari got real uppity when we decided this and left the room again to go who-knows-where). But the dog ran away, or died, or something, when I was 7, just in case someone expects me to know something about dogs. Because everything I know about pets is from having Kari for the past 6 months, and that's pretty minimal, because most everything to do with her care had been left up to the maids.

But I sort of wanted to have a pet. When I was little, I always wanted a dog, so a lot of this was me making up my fantasy life, I suppose. But I'm definitely a cat person now. I think it was just the hype that got me when I was little; I'm definitely glad I didn't get a dog 6 months ago.

But, we still aren't sure what to do about Kari. Kady pointed out that my cat aught to stay in the Palace, because otherwise it would practically be proof that I was alive because everyone would assume that she had followed me out of the palace. Which would mean that I had to stay there. At the Palace. Which was, in fact, no longer mine.

I suppose that staying right under his nose would keep King Gandon from seeing me, but who really knows? Kady also pointed out that I didn't have any really redeemable skills (which I realized last night, but hadn't really mentioned) and that most of the jobs in the city would have required some sort of a skill. Her plan was to get me a job as a Fifth Assistant Cook. I would pretty much run around delivering spices and carrying pots and stirring. The salary 'isn't great', to quuote Kady, but the work was easy.

And that was another thing. I had never, in my life, handled money. I've held it, sure, but only when I was learning the values and faces on each coin, and the time one I had to make a big show of donating to a fund for poor children. It was for a good cause, and everyone mentioned it glowingly for the next few months, but it hardly counted.

I had visited the market a few times, but only what was probably the really expensive part, with clean, paved streets and fancy store fronts, and high-and-mighty salespeople who looked down their noses at anyone who wasn't wearing embroidery. And that had only been for parades. It hadn't involved me actually buying anything.

Most of the things I'd had in life I'd barely had to ask for. Some I _hadn't _even asked for. Like the 20 mirrors. If I ever wanted something I didn't have, I would simply ask my parents and someone (presumably a servant) would buy it for me or have it arranged. I had no idea where most of it even really came from.

I didn't mention it to Kady; it was rather embarrassing, the longer I thought about it, and I already felt like I was being a toll on her without asking for financial assistance.

But, anyway, that's what's been going on for the past half hour. In an extremely long winded explanation.

"Names of your family! Wow! I can not believe that we forgot that!" Kady practically yelled. I would have jumped, except it wasn't the first statement she had yelled recently. She was a rather excitable person once she really got into something. I was beginning to regret bringing the topic up.

"Um… let's see, we have to name… my father, my mother, my two brothers, and my sister." I listed. "I've always wanted to have a sister named Rose."

Kady nodded. "Ok. And, let's see. Your father can be… Paul. Paul and… Jenna. Jenna can be you mother."

"Ok, and… I'm stuck on Robert, but I don't want to have two siblings whose names start with R."

"Try S or something. I'll think on T."

"Um… Sssss… st… steven. Steven?"

"Sure. And T… how's Trevor?"

"Ok. Paul and Jenna, my parents. Steven and Trevor are my brothers and Rose is my sister."

"I thought you didn't have a sister." We looked up in time to see Winny enter the kitchen, carrying a heavily-laden basket. Kady got up quickly to help her aunt.

"No, my made-up family. Kady and I have been making up my life." I explained.

"Really? You'll have to tell me all about it!" Winny giggled.

"That reminds me! Kady, your aunt is back, you have to tell your story now." I could tell that Kady didn't want to tell me. She had turned a suspicious shade of red when I'd mentioned it earlier.

"Right." Kady let the basket fall onto the counter with a loud thump. "Well."

She briefly described her trip through the palace and the scene in the ball room. Then she began on King Gandon's speech. When she got to the part about Para I nearly exploded. They were blaming the entire thing on _Para_. _Para_, my nurse, my maid Para. It was ridiculous. I made do with squeezing the edge of the table – I probably left nail marks.

And then… I utterly deflated when Kady, practically whispering, came to the part about Para's death. Just… there was no way, now, that she was innocent. It wouldn't even matter if someone proved it. And… she was just, just gone. It didn't seem at all real. It's so much easier to understand something being there than something not being there. And… I guess… it must just be that everyone close to me seems to have died recently. There was less of the aching emptiness that happened before. It was just a hollow sadness, one I could deal with. I knew it would come back later, worse, when everything had sunk in, but for then I let it fade to the back of my mind. I didn't want to think about it just then.

Kady paused for a moment, watching my face, and then carried on when I suppose I looked calmer. She explained that everyone was, temporarily, being held in the Great Hall and that Gandon had assumed Kingship. This I swallowed easily. It wasn't surprising, or that awful. Eventually, after he had put on enough of a show and enough people had accepted his rule, he would let everyone out. Within two days everyone would be heading back to their respective properties. I wish I could.

Well, I suppose I sort of will…

Kady stopped again

"And, well, I suppose that's it." She pondered something for another moment, then "King Gandon is planning on giving a country to each twin. That's basically his entire motive."

Winny's eyebrows went way up. "He's a rather odd man, isn't he? And he admitted this to all the nobles?"

"Well… no… I heard a soldier talking about it." Kady shrugged.

"Ah. Well, how do you know they were telling the truth?" Winny asked.

"I… don't… I suppose..." Kady blinked a few times.

"Well, it doesn't matter much, anyway; it doesn't matter too much what his motive is: he's done it already, and there's no mystery about who it was. But we do know that I won't be able to apply for a job at the palace for a few days, at least. We can only hope that no one notices Kari's absence," I cut in. We were moving away from the problem at hand.

"I doubt the King will rate Kari's location as something of top importance – if she suddenly appears after a few days, they'll probably just think she was scared away by the ruckus, got lost or something, and only just returned. Or maybe she was locked in a closet. You know what cats get into." Winny waved her hand a bit. "And I won't let you into that palace for at least a week. You've been through too much of a shock to simply dive right back in so soon."

I thought about it. It was true; it tied right into what I'd been thinking before. No one would notice Kari _not_ being there half as much as her sudden appearance. So that was another thing that would have to be planned. If Kari showed up the same day as Lara, it might look rather suspicious.

"I wonder… if there is any way… we could convince Kari to return to the palace without me." I checked around quickly to make sure she wasn't in hearing distance. Sometimes it's like she understands everything we say.

"We probably could… but why?" Winny started to unpack her basket.

"Well, it would be rather strange if she suddenly appeared the moment I walked into the kitchens."

"I doubt anyone would notice. Unless she was with you. And I'm sure that she'll be distracted by the gardens or something. Or you can take her into your rooms through the passageway, wait a few hours, then come to the kitchens for your interview." Kady put a loaf of bread in a drawer.

"That would work." I got up to help them, and accepted some apples bound for the bowl in the corner.

After we put away the groceries, Winny made lunch – tomato and ham sandwiches, and some ham for Kari, who appeared the moment she smelled food, I suppose. She seems to have forgiven Winny for closing the door on her before.

After lunch, she brought out some old dresses of hers, covered in patches, but seemingly from her shorter, thinner days. They were still a little big, and a far cry from what I had been wearing yesterday, but they were better than the page's uniform.

The next week passed quickly. Kari learned to use the bathroom outside, to judge from the little piles of dirt in the far corner of the garden, near what I found out is carrots. It never occurred to me that they were all the way in the dirt like that. I mean, they're roots! I sort of knew that, but it didn't occur to me at all what that really meant.

It became my chore to water the plants and Kady gave me a crash course in spices and their uses. She said that I really wouldn't need to know most of them, but who knew? They could be helpful. I could move up the ranks – maybe to a real cook one day. I told her that renegade princess was good enough.

Four days after my birthday – that's what time seems like now, before and after my birthday – the nobles poured out of the Palace, almost at the same time. Kady had managed to talk to her father on the second day after my birthday and arranged to meet him at the same time every day. On the third day, she watched as one by one, each Noble Family sent a representative to pledge loyalty to their new 'King'. I asked about the Duke of Ranselle. He was next in line to inherit the thrown. Kady said that she didn't quite know who was who, but it seemed as if the order of pledges had been related to rank, and the first man to come forward had said the words slowly and deliberately, glaring into the King's face the entire time.

I was surprised – the Duke was a large, red-faced man who had seemed glad that there were two people – my mother and I – between the kingship and he, should my father die. He was my father's cousin, my second cousin, and was one of the few people who didn't present me with gaudy things each birthday. His last present was a set of toiletries scented with the perfume of the treasured few Ranselle Roses. Something I would actually use, as the scent is notoriously rejuvenating - a property that could come in handy during long history lessons. It is not on the market because of the work it took to grow the roses – only three bushes were alive, and so the flowers had to be harvested carefully and perfume built up slowly over time. It was said that there were only six cups of it, total, stored in the Perfume houses, although the area was famous for perfumes made from its other flowers.

But, regardless of the gift, I never would have guessed that he wouldn't quiver in fear in front of such a King. I realized that he must think that he was the new King now. I couldn't see him taking it himself, but perhaps he was thinking of his son.

On the Fourth day after my birthday, they had all left. Kady went to the Palace that day and came back to tell us that the staff had been, for the most part, re-instated. A number of people had quit, either out of loyalty for their King or because of the King's Guard, who were still walking about the Palace as if they owned it and harassing any servants they came upon. There had always been rowdy guards, and there always will be, but the King's Guard was generally made up of a higher class than the average servant, or at least a richer class, and Nirdan had a much stricter caste system than Canderon. The King was considered a great exception to their views of who could and could not be in certain positions.

Anyway, Kady told me that it would be easy to get a job as almost anything right now, although I told her that I would prefer something small. I have been thinking about my future past that job. I don't want to be a servant forever. Even though I was hardly looking forward to being a Queen, it was too big a fall to be a servant forever. I wasn't sure what I was going to do about it, but I did want time to think about it, and to actually do it. A small job would be convenient.

Kady suggested that I wait to interview, as well. King Gandon was planning to leave at the end of the week. His brother's widow and her two daughters were coming to live in the Palace, to act as the royal family until his twins were old enough to inherit the crown. There would be perhaps a week between the King's leaving and his sister-in-law's arrival. Kady suggested I get my job then, when there was no one around except a few guards to notice.

And tomorrow morning I'll be going back.


End file.
